It was smiles all the way when I visited a primary school in a low income area in the outskirts of Lagos. The children and staff were very excited to receive the reading books, dictionaries ,writing materials and some snacks.
I had been in contact with the lady who established the school-a very dynamic lady ,and a single mother. I call her a survivor because she did not let her circumstance conquer her, but chose to dominate her situation by stepping out to do something about it.With a handful of dedicated staff, she is grooming the children in this school for a brighter future.
Despite the limited resource, they work painstakingly with the little available resource. They still rely on the good old blackboard and chalk. There are no signs of CD players, flatscreen television or even an old computer. I wonder if these children will ever get to see such resource in this age of technology, unless they are donated by well wishers.
As the teachers distributed the books, i could hear some children make comments like,
“I like that one.” ” Oh, this is very nice,is it mine?”
As I had spent so much airfreighting goods, I could not carry too many books. I was really moved with compassion watching their reaction. I encouraged the Headmistress to build it up gradually as a library so that they could all have access, and I promised that more will be delivered to them at a later date.
It is such a shame that Nigeria could do more considering the oil wealth, unfortunately that is not the case for many parts of the country.
