MY THIRTEEN 'I WILL NEVER...' LIST (FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL CHILD)

Guest Writer: Mary Ajayi
(Thirteen 'determination points' of a teenage youmg lady for International Day of the Girl Child,  2013) 
                    
MY THIRTEEN ‘I WILL NEVER…’ LIST

*I will never stop dreaming.

*I will never fail to make plans.

*I will never live without principles.

FROM THE NAVEL OF THE SOUL (FOR WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY)

PROFILER: MARY AJAYI

                                 

WHEN WILL DEATH COME?

Five years ago my father tore me open, and every night since then, he continues to open me up. I am thirteen, an only child. My mother is dead; I have no friends and no relatives that I am allowed to see. This is the life I have been given and I’ve grown into it. I will not avenge myself. I do not know how to, nobody cares anyway, even me. I stopped caring sometime along the way. It’s a fucked up life, but I live it. Hope is something strange, joy…I have no memories of it. I do not make wishes, I do not pray. I simply float. When will I stop living anyway? Tonight when he comes again?

PIECES OF PEACE #IN SIMPLE TERMS

We know when something is present because we have experienced its absence. We know something is bad because we have seen the ‘good’ counterpart. We know right from wrong because we have experienced both…we know what ‘peace’ is because we have not only seen but experienced otherwise. People have different opinion on what peace means, the level of its importance and how it can be fostered among individuals. If you ask a group of people to give synonyms for the word ‘peace’ and their understanding of it, you’d get varying data. It is good that everyone has a mind of their own and are conscious of it but it is not only better but best if they come together to share their thoughts on matters before reaching a final conclusion. Inna Valdes and Rimesh Khanal(UNESCO peace ambassadors)and I have come together to share our pieces of peace i.e. what we think ‘peace’ means and our advice for individuals concerning it. We hope, you’ll be gracious enough to share your thoughts on peace with us too so we can learn. We do this with a simple focus: to share knowledge and educate one another on matters of peace in different areas of existence…in simple terms.

THE CHANGE THEY DO NOT DESERVE…

Image Credit: abcnews

It is quite fascinating the way people stratify and stereotype. If the society frowns at something, it is bad. If tradition forbids it, it is totally destructive. What justifies something being good, bad, acceptable, unacceptable, right, wrong…public opinion? The majority weighed against the minority? 

REFLECTIONS: MY TEENAGE YEARS

Image Credit: medindia.net

I haven’t always been this sane. I was as crazy as they come. You never could get me to sit down in one place, not put my hands in that jar, not taste that drink, and not have that fun…not live that life. You never could tell me what to do if you wanted to survive to say you ‘advised’ me. I was my own person, and I made my own mistakes and lived with them. Hell, I always wanted to make mistakes! I was daring and took risks a lot. I considered this living. The fast lane of life was for me. This makes me remember my friends, my cliques. We had dubbed ourselves the risk takers. Well, that was before everything changed for us.

HIGHWAY TO HELL

Image Credit: digitaltrends.com

You know, I just laughed at the title of this little article. It’s funny to me. Yet, this is a vivid description of people who are on drugs or those trafficking it illegally. Let’s take a little imagination tour.

CRY FOR LOVE

Source: ilo.org

I have not known peace. I have had to struggle to make things work and go through the little years I've lived in one piece. My mother died trying to give birth to me and my father raised me all by himself till I was seven. Then he got sick (cancer of something, the term is too complicated for me to understand or remember.) On his death bed, he handed me over to his younger sister, Aunty Neme, who I've only met once all my life with the words,' Adesua my pride, I'm going to rest now and your aunty will take care of you. She loves you as much as I do and she's your family too.' Ever since then, aunty has been using me to service her customers with the words,' you have to do what you have to do to survive. We must all survive through any means. You know I love you'. Now, three years after my father's death, I'm still in the hell he enrolled me in when he died. Is this love? Aunty, love me, love me enough to protect me from these men every night; All I ask for is...love.

GIVE ME A DRINK

Source: worldoceannetwork.org

From the oceans clean and sparkling

Give me a drink

Take the edge off  life's rough handling

Give me a drink

Give me a drink, from nature's pure reserve

Of rivers of refreshing bliss

It’s amazing how nature soothes me and washes away the struggles I face daily. I always like to take a stroll on the beach each evening after work, alone with my thoughts. I sit on the beach and watch the waves of the sea gently rise and fall and I try to match my heartbeat with them. Sometimes the waves are calm, other times they are…roaring. This helps me understand that life is not always cool and calm. Just as I have learnt to appreciate the sea waves whether calm or otherwise, I have learnt to appreciate life and its processes.

APOSTROPHE TO THE ACHING SOULS

Source: datadiary.com

I've heard of the wrongs which have been done to you, I have read about them, I have seen some...but I have never felt any of these. Nevertheless, I relate with the situation. I understand the heart of a child, the innocence, the bright-eyed wonder, the hunger for love, the need for connection with someone or something... I once was a child and I craved these. However, you have been denied these through varying circumstances and you ache for something, anything to hold on to even as you spiral down the staircase of darkness.

BLESSINGS ALL AROUND

Source: Slideshare.net

The global day of parents is a day set apart by the United Nations to honour and appreciate parents all over the world for their sacrifices and selfless commitments to their children and the existing relationship between them. It is duly noted by the UN that family is very important and has the primary assignment of protecting and taking care of children. It is also noted that children should grow up in a conducive family environment where love, happiness, understanding and a cordial relationship exists.