I am tapping away on my keys, in a furious attempt to have my task accomplished this dull evening (8:00pm), when three lovely girls knock at the office door, present me one fine folded piece of paper as soon as I usher them in. “Joy asked us to deliver this to you” they say, with bright faces!
All I could say was, thank you Lord!
The content of this delivery was the most beautiful thing that had happened to me the entire week! My heart melted as soon as I saw well thought-of drawings of flowers and a message that read, “Dear my best friend aunt Prudence, I love you so much.”
To receive flowers and a note from a 12-year-old girl is such a great challenge for me to become a more influential mother. There is no room for getting careless because now I know that every single step I take is being recorded.
Flowers are universally recognised as an expression of love, a symbol of beauty and positivity.
Children often draw flowers for their care givers as a way to express love, appreciation and affection. They may use drawings as a means of communication, especially if they do not have vocabulary to express their feelings verbally. Drawing a flower can be a simple and heartfelt gesture, reflecting the child’s natural inclination to create and share emotions visually.
For a person working in a child care institute, to be specific an orphanage, you will never know when you are doing too much or too little, whether you are being too soft or too hard! It’s always an endless maze, figuring out if you are arousing trauma in the child or supporting them to re-write their story.
Growing in a child care institution is not desirable for any child because they deserve to grow in families yet under inevitable circumstances such as losing parents, abandonment, civil strife, domestic violence and so forth, many are left with no option but to experience institutionalization or other alternative forms of care.
By virtue of our profession, many of us are blessed to become mothers, fathers and caregivers to children who have unfortunately been deprived the opportunity to grow in a family.
Our mandate therefore, is to do everything within our means, to ensure that we provide a safe space where children thrive, feel loved and protected. They ought to constantly feel that their opinions are valid and valued.
Sometimes we do our best but never get the opportunity to receive feedback from children, who are the immediate beneficiaries of our actions but this should not in any way deter our enthusiasm to bring out the best in them. Let’s bless children with a childhood they don’t have to heal from.
“if we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.” -Mahatma Gandhi
Now I am more challenged by how to support the beautiful 12-year-old grow better, realising that I am her “best friend” but also wondering in a beautiful way, “why did she think the gift should be delivered by the other girls?”
