IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD

Sir,

Please allow me to steal Steve Komphela’s words; he once said: “It takes five years for the Chinese bamboo tree to break the ground. But in the five years underneath the ground there is a lot of growth and patience.”

The growth of the bamboo is not in the six weeks after it emerged from the ground, but rather in the five years prior.

I used to walk long distance as a herd boy and never had shoes, while I was living in the mountain. That is why today I am a strong man. I was raised by strong parents who instilled strong values in me. The number of young boys today who are addicts and live in the streets is forever escalating and society seems to be okay with that.

Track

It is only ever the parents of those children who try to get them back on track. For as long as we do not stand together as a community to teach our children about the dangers of experimenting with drugs, their futures will waste away.
Most children grow without their father’s voice in the home, only their mothers take care of them. Around 70 per cent of young boys are without their fathers compared to only 30 per cent with them. Boys need the voice of a man at home, no matter what.

Help

Women cannot raise a family of children alone, they also need the help of a man in the house. Being a parent is a full time job. Buta mine. Angibikisi liciniso nje. The problem with our adults today in Eswatini is that they laugh about their neighbours’ children’s bad behaviour rather than addressing it in the right way. Before the child goes astray, akusiko kahle nje! Sekute bohuman being kitsi maSwati.

We should be helping each other raise responsible children who will focus on their future. We must not destroy the future of other families’ children by selling them drugs at school. One child who adopts wayward behaviour is a thorn to the neighbourhood and community.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is created by seeing bad behaviour in children and allowing them to grow with it. All boys need to grow up with a proper father-figure and the right guidance.

Men who guide them must practice what they preach. No matter how seriously a man teaches a boy to behave in a certain way, if that man then goes and does the opposite, the boy will follow the negative behaviour. It will never benefit our young boys. Men need to behave responsibly so they can be a good example.

Domestic violence, GBV, road rage and other forms of social violence could be solved by raising children to be respectful to themselves and other people. My Bible says everything has its own time. Fathers must teach boys how to fish, not steal.

Responsibility

Grandfathers, uncles and elder brothers must take the responsibility of guiding young boys within their families, especially where fathers have shunned their duties as men.

Many young boys turn to drugs because they are trying to numb the pain of life, of growing without the presence of their fathers taking care of them. They need us most in life.

That is why we need to find a way to raise our children with love and set a good example for them from a young age. Many communities treat young adults who are addicted to drugs as people to be hunted down and eliminated. This is not the way to handle such a devastating problem.

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