Childhood abuse breeds bitterness

The rural child is not a child. I say so because there is no line between parental responsibilities and the role of a child in the typical rural household.

When a child has to work to raise funds to help to fend for the family, it is a case of abuse whose eventual outcome is likely to be costly because it breeds bitterness. We find ourselves at a point where every facet of life is already strenuous.

It is by all means a regrettable time to be alive anywhere on planet Earth. How unfortunate that in these circumstances, so many parents in the countryside still place so much belief in their biblical responsibility to fill the earth!

Polygamy still thrives and women still find themselves entangled with religions that condemn the use of contraceptives. Coupled with early pregnancies and marriages wombs in the village can be fully engaged from first ovulation to menopause. That this old view can still be celebrated is a cause of concern.

While the Russia- Ukraine war has put the dollar under siege, the Kenya shilling is struggling against the dollar in a fashion never seen since independence. The trend is so sickening that even the Uganda shilling is celebrating rising in value in comparison to our prestigious shilling. It is possible that this is how Zimbabwe ended up adopting the dollar after its currency became ultimately useless. To imagine that this pressure is shifted to the rural child amounts to nothing but abuse, but who cares?

In rural Africa, many would be behind bars if the Child protection laws were to be observed. They believe that everyone who eats must work to earn their share. Children are not spared because they have mouths that eat daily. Houses are ill-equipped to host children.

Arguments between couples have no privacy even if conducted in the dead of the night because there are no ceiling barriers anyway. We do not want to imagine what other inappropriate content the kids may hear long before they are ready to learn about the sins at Aden. These children not only bear the burden of provisioning but also are forced to mature long before their time. Some are exposed to domestic violence.

Others are treated to more controversial content like their paternities being questioned publicly by a drunk father who can brand a child as a bastard casually without understanding the weight of such a tag on a growing child.

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