Celebrating our kids for successful academic session .
It is generally said that train a child and you preserve a nation . Illiteracy is one of the worst vices you can think of . If you think education is expensive then try ignorance.
It is in the light of this that by the day we try to encourage our rural community.
The Selagi Community where I am a pastor was predominantly rural , timid and uneducated. The thinking of this people was not only backward but barbaric . Most of what they did was nothing less than a primitive way of doing things . The worse of it was the fact that they wouldn’t accept their state . They were aggressive, arrogant , disrespectful and proud for nothing . I knew I had a lot to do . For me to succeed, I must be on a different page as “ two wrongs won’t make a right” you must stoop to conquer .
We though that the best way to reduce this cruel thinking was to establish a formal educational system that will seek to give a new orientation not only to the lost mind but also train the ignorant .
We begun with learning under very hard conditions . No comfort attach to our learning culture even though we wished we could have a better learning culture , we didn’t have.
Day and night , morning and afternoon , under harsh weather of windy , sunny and rainy days, we all went to school .
Even though we didn’t have good accommodations , the foot soldiers , that’s the teachers were determined to give their best . They were determined and anxious to make an impact .
We made English the official language to communicate with one another ; this seemed like breaking it through the hard way. we seem to be in the school of hard knocks.
We threatened and made laws that incurred punishment on defaulters .
Communication became so difficult , but imbedded in all these was the determination to learn fast and improve , this was an obvious fact in the faces of the children . They confidently spoke the wrong thing with great courage . I would often times tell them , speak and make the most mistakes you can , you will be corrected and you will improve for the better . All thanks to this initiative, this helped wipe out fear and mediocrity. They improved by the day .
Today we are joyful . Consequently , we celebrated the kids in a big way. One week to their graduation, we invited the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of gboko who was a priest when we begun the foundation of this learning center . He was there from the outset ; today he is 25 days a bishop and we invited him to come celebrate with the kids . It was quite a joyful day .
Our experience
Every one was thrilled with the performance of the kids . It seemed new pupils had come to replace the ones we begun learning with . They did not only appear smart , but they also looked a refined people.
They carried out a lot of educative activities, dances and displays. It was a remarkable experience.
With this experience , I have come to believe that , nothing is impossible once the mind is mind .
If you are determined , then you can achieve it .
Today our hearts are filled with great joy and we look forward to the years ahead .
The bishop was happy with the kids and promised scholarship to kids in 1-4th grade . Five persons benefited from the Bishops gesture .
The kids were gifted with snacks and some drinks to end the day with .
All went home happy .