When I was asked
to write this article, I was scared. I was scared because I felt something bad
(like the Aluu4) was about to happen to me. I was scared because this article
would re-open old wounds and made them fresh again.
I was scared
because I felt I could have done more than crying after the incident (like send
the kid overseas to study). I felt guilty.
Matthew’s parents
left home for a party function in the northern part of the country and
never returned home.
News reached us
that they were butchered like animals by the dreaded “Boko Haram” sect. It
was crazy when the news got to us. I felt like shooting everyone around
me.
I was mad. Mad
not because two people were murdered but because of what the 5 year old kid’s
fate would be without his parents.
There are so many
kids on the street born “hopeless”. Matthew wasn't. He attended the best
school around, wore the best clothes and even had the best smile. He was
indeed the envy of his peers.
But before you
could say GEJ, all these things disappeared. His aunt moved in, He stopped
school and started hawking sachet water, all in the space of 3 months. 3
months! He wasn't that happy kid that everyone wanted to be
around anymore.
I didn't really
know how it got that bad because I left home few weeks after the incident. But
one thing I knew for sure was that nobody cared. Everybody seems to have
continued with life. Because we all felt it was none of our business.
Matthew’s story
is just one out of many out there. We have more than hundreds of thousands of
the helpless kids on the streets. But all we do is pass bye and chant words
such as- “e no concern me”, “no be my fault”.
But there are
some institutions that have made it their duty to give these kids hope. Hope that
they can become whatever they wanna. Hope that they can be the president of
this country someday. Hope that they might invent something cool people would
live to talk about.
Even if we do not
have the time or money to set up such institutions, we can still make things
happen. We don’t have to wait till we have all the money in the world before we
do something.
Look at our
spiritual teachers, Jesus, Mohammed, and Gandhi. They all made little things
count.
We all can do the
same this festive period by supporting NYA (National Youth Alliance)- a youth
initiative set up to educate youths on how to make where we live a better
place by acting positively.
Red Cross
Orphanage home is one of those institutions that are trying their best to
restore hope to kids like Matthew. And NYA has decided to pay them a visit on
the 21st of December 2013 to show them some love and do the little
they could to support them. But they can’t do this on their own. NYA needs
your support. NYA needs volunteers. And they need your money too *smiles*.
There are list of things (not only the cash) that these kids need.
If you are
interested in showing some support, send; “HOW CAN I HELP” to
nationalyouthsallaiance@yahoo.com.
You can start by
sharing this article to your friends via facebook, twitter; e.t.c. by hitting
the share button below.
Let us help
the “Matthew’s” in the streets live their dreams. You could also follow NYA on
twitter @NatYouthAllianc
Let us make little
things count. Who knows maybe the ripple effect of our actions might change
those around us and even the nation as a whole.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Wishing you
extreme success,
Sadiq Daniel
@sadiq_daniel