How does *Leo easily say that he’ll grow up to be a scavenger? With due respect to the job to scavengers, I was more than stunned. From teachers to pilots, I’ve heard a lot about dream jobs but today was the first time I heard of them including scavengers. Should the child be considered innocent and unknowing or are we the naive ones here? Has the child already come face to face with discrimation and nepotism?
ELI AFRICA, specially ELI EDUCATION is here to make a child born in a CEO’s house and one born into a poor family experience the same, or rather similar educational opportunities. The location of the two after-school-hours schools, i.e the catchment areas explains that we’re dealing with children in unfavorable circumstances be it in terms of finance, family or education wise. You know the children are at ELI schools instead of on the streets learning about social vices.
Come to think of it, the certainty detected in Leo’s words make me wonder whether this is what he hears at the dinner table every night. And this is what we need to change. We cannot bring a 180-degree change in his family’s line of thought but we can shape his. The children are a lot more mature and smarter, along with obviously energetic (volunteers know what I’m talking about), than we think- which is why we not only focus on the educational curriculum but also on their personality. Our role changes from friend to teacher. Bettering their grades, showing them their worth and appreciating their talents with individual attention is our goal. Leo needs to realise the importance of education. We need to make him believe in education. Taking it as a challenge, ELI AFRICA is going to change Leo’s idea of future.
*Leo-fictional name
Written by Reha Sookraz.