School Holidays
March 15, 2022
The children are home for a long break from school. The Form 4 students are sitting their final examinations, so they can join University in September, while the Standard 8 students are sitting their final Primary examinations. This group will be joining Secondary School when schools reopen in April.
This is a long break and as usual the children need a lot of attention from their parents, so idleness doesn’t set in causing the students to engage in risky behavior. In the city, it is very hard to keep track of the children. Most parents are back at work and rely on relatives and domestic workers to tend to the children. The younger ones are easier to look after because they don’t have as many needs; if they are fed and entertained, the younger ones are generally okay. The older ones are the big problem, especially the teenagers. They have a lot of time on their hands and are generally on the lookout for adventure. Because of the devastation reeked by Covid, those parents lucky enough to keep their jobs had to take a pay cut, since most companies suffered loss. Things have not been the same for most employees since, and though things are getting back to normal, the losses suffered will take time to recover.
Children, especially the youth, do not understand hard times. Due to the pressures they feel from both society and their colleagues, they want to move with the times. More often than not, they are not conscious of the struggles their parents and caregivers are going through.
Powerful, negative influences exist that can lead restless kids to drug abuse, and reckless, irresponsible behavior that can easily result in teenage pregnancies and inductions into militia groups, like the al-Shabaab.
Though we may not have school activities, we help the parents in our communities manage their teenagers. We have interacted with them for a long-time and tend to understand their issues. Keeping the children and teenagers busy with outdoor activities is the best way to keep them safely engaged. If left to their own devices, the teenagers will sit behind the television the whole day and play video games. This is not healthy behavior; teenagers need activities to keep them healthy as they also learn new activities. Most parents in the city send their children to the village, so they can keep away from mischief and help their grandparents with tasks that need attending. As convenient as this may sound, however, without supervision, the children generally find a way to engage in activities that do not challenge their physical health.
Reading a book, attending to household pets and animals, gardening, collecting firewood, helping the elderly, learning a skill, like swimming or playing a musical instrument, riding a bicycle, helping with everyday household chores are some of the activities that the young children and teenagers can engage in to keep busy and productive.
We love children. Helping them become the very best that they can be is our dream and our aim. As the holidays go by and the children need a helping hand, we are here for them, as are their parents and guardians.
Children playing as they enjoy their school break.
A young girl enjoys the outdoors.
Fetching water for home use.
A young boy spends part of his holiday attending to his school assignment.
Form 4 students head home after sitting an examination.
Young boys and girls fetch firewood for preparing an evening meal.
