Young And Soulful

YOUNG AND SOULFUL.

African children are born with a dream and passion that keeps them going. Differences in culture, tradition, language and even geographical location do not change the story of the African child. 

This story transcends beyond norms and beliefs, tribes and practices, ancestors and descendants. The story of young maidens and young energetic lads born into a poor home stays the same, where all the dreams and aspirations are controlled by the circumstances surrounding their lives. Factors such as poverty, exposure, politics, and life’s unexpected occurrences.

     The dreams and hopes to get a better life are a common fire burning in the heart of youngsters, the old people who were once young would sit calmly and give pieces of advice as though these hopes and dreams were mere folktales. 

This is common in the house of a poor man, a home where the father works so hard and there’s still no food on the table. 

This is the story of most African children. Eight out of ten children go to bed hungry. 

The few lucky ones eat and are well dressed, they have access to education and wide range of options to choose from.

 The rest remains sons and daughters of God depending on Him for daily bread.

     Orphans cut the greater percentage of the poverty line as they roam or hawk the streets. These young lads and girls grow with no sense of direction as life presents them with the death of their parents. This lays a platform where a lot of them grow with disappointment, anger, depression and a desperate need to survive. 

Despite these, there’s a common start to what could have been the story of almost every successful African, always has the cliché “from grass to grace”. 

Everyone has that humble beginning and these beginnings are a fuel that keeps the hopes of the younger ones alive.

 These success stories allows the younger generations to believe that being better and having an accomplished life is not a folktale.

      The African child always has that heaviness in heart. The burden we carry are more than what we can say. We are young but have suffered more than what we should. 

In the end, the challenges leave a room for hope to be birth again.

Paschal Caulker is a Sierra Leonean who is passionate about creative writing, arts and music.

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