William Rescued from an Appalling Childhood
“I don’t want to go back to that place again! I don’t like them! They don’t like me and my brother!” These were the words of William when he found a new loving home and an SOS mother in the SOS Children’s Villages Owu-Ijebu, Nigeria two years ago (2013).
William is now nine years old. It was difficult for him to narrate all that had happened to him staying with a mentally challenged biological mother and some hostile extended family members who were not willing to support him and his only little brother, Samuel.
For William, telling his stories to friends and peers at school was like remembering some kind of painful and traumatic experience. There was one thing that was, however, very clear in his story; his passionate pleas ‘please don’t take me back that place again’.
Challenging Moments for William
William had a painful history living on the street and going through all kinds of abuse before his admission into the SOS Children’s Village Owu-Ijebu. William is seven years old and is the eldest of two children born by a mentally challenged mother living in the street in a little town called Epe in Lagos state, in south-west Nigeria. William and his little brother Samuel were seen wandering around the street in Epe town with their aggressive mother begging for food, clothes and money.
On some occasions, he has narrowly escaped death by some reckless driver. Begging on the street for William meant crossing the road at will and even chasing a moving vehicles.
His biological mother watched from a distance and monitored what was happening to him. Sometimes she screamed at him or threw stones at him just to see that he was begging people around for money. Whatever money he is able to gather for the day from passers-by and some good Samaritans is what his little family will depend on for the day. On a good day, he was able to make some little money for the family. This would at least fetch some food for them; else they would all go hungry or scavenge in a nearby refuse dump for left-over food, whether good or rotten.
He wished somebody could help him or give them food to eat. Sometimes, the thought of going to sleep without food made him feel sick.
Extended family members were neither able nor willing to rescue William and his brother from their aggressive mother due to some cultural meaning attached to mental illness in the locality.
After wandering all day with the mother, they would all retire to the riverside where William will have to work with fishermen all night, helping them to wash and repair their nets as well help in smoking their fish so as to raise money for the next day’s meal.
William and his brother never had time to rest. There was no place to call home as everywhere was home for him and his little brother. Home could be on a fishing boat, on the river bank, an incomplete building, an old car or the street, a refuse dump and just anywhere that mum felt like sleeping. “I was not happy, but I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to run away but I didn’t know where to go,” William explained to us. He was malnourished with skin rashes and boils all over his little body as a result of lack of care and good nutrition.
A Loving Home in the SOS Village
William was identified by the state’s Social Welfare department during one of their outreach programmes in the rural community, and was referred to the SOS Children’s Village Owu-Ijebu for care and protection. The mother, however, escaped with Samuel and refused releasing the child for care and protection however she is still in contact with SOS Children's Villages.
During his first week in his SOS family, William would wake up early in the morning and ask his SOS mother: “Mama, are we not going out today.” This is just one out of the many questions he was asking his SOS mother when he first came to us.
William's SOS mother took time to answer his entire list of questions and also taught him good morals and normal living in a family environment.
It took a while before he was able to adjust properly in the family house. In his first few weeks he screamed while sleeping at night and was always frightened meeting people in the family house. He narrated an experience when some group of young men came to kidnap him and his brother from their mother while sleeping in front of a small shop one night. The SOS mother reassured him that he is safe and secure in his SOS family as no one was going to harm him.
He took a while to adapt to this normal life, but he did thanks to the counselling sessions and support from co-workers both in the SOS Children’s Village and the Hermann Gmeiner Primary School.
William is so happy being here. He is living in a secured family environment with caring SOS brothers and sisters. He eats well and is no longer traumatised at night unlike before when he was sleeping in an undesirable environment and working in the cold night at the river bank. He plays with children of his own age group and runs around the family houses playing his favourite game, which is football (soccer). He was happy the day his biological mother and Samuel visited him here last year. .
What school was like before and now?
Having not been in a school setting before, it was surprising that William could identify some letters and numbers. When asked how he was able to identify the letters and numbers, he said: “My mother used to read A-Z for me and she would ask me to say after her. If I could not remember the letters she will beat me and will not give me food for the whole day. In the night too, she wakes me up to recite some numbers. I don’t always remember certain numbers and she will ask me to stand sleeping all through the night.”
Unlike his new SOS brothers and sisters, William never went to school prior to coming to the SOS Village. He saw children going to school and always wished he could one day carry his bag and wear a uniform to school, just like the other kids. Now his dreams have come.
He will be going to primary one at the Hermann Gmeiner Primary School when school starts this month. In his last school report he did well and he can now write and colour with paint and a brush. He is the best artist for the academic session in the SOS Kindergarten. He speaks boldly, using simple and short sentences in English and can recollect most of the concepts taught in class. He is good in numbering work though needs to put in more effort in his letter work, especially in reading.
To support him further. He attends a summer class and is actively involved in the book club meeting on weekends. This is to help him improve in the area of reading and writing. He is being encouraged to read more story books at home.
He is a friendly boy and relates well with peers. Being in the SOS Children’s Village can only be captured with this few words from William:
“My SOS mother loves me, I sleep well and I eat good food. We play in the house and in the village. I fetch water with my SOS brothers and sisters for our mummy. We go to school every day and we come back together. I sleep on my bed and see my wardrobe. I wear good clothes and shoes to school and church. We are happy in my house.”
William's Big Dream
William wants to be a doctor when he grows up. He wants to take care of children and take care of his biological mother so that she can be normal again. William is happy in his SOS family and hopes the process of admitting his younger brother into the village will be hastened by the social welfare authority so that they can both can grow and develop together. William will always ask the social worker, “Please tell them to bring my brother here. I want to see him and stay with him here. I want him to sleep well like me and go to school like me,” William will always ask the social worker.
Plans are in place with the social welfare authority to see how his younger brother can be rescued from the mother.