Miria* had such a wide grin that made her eyes flash with brightness, I could see her face shine!
I would later comprehend that the best ‘THANK YOU’ one can receive is a genuine smile.
Miria* is one of the girls that joined the crochet sessions, four weeks back. She is a school dropout at the age of 16 yet chances of her returning to school are quite minimal.
Our first encounter was when she approached me with a care taker to request joining my sessions. she could barely say her own name, which meant that the caretaker would speak on her behalf the entire time.
Her demeanor, body language and speech patterns unmasked her extremely low self-esteem. That was a plus for me because I knew she was the exact kind of person I was looking for.
Myself having suffered low self-esteem as a teenager, I know how much one stands to lose. For her case, being a school dropout at that tender age doesn’t make it any better.
Reaching out to girls like her has been a burden on my heart since the COVID19 lockdown, having witnessed skyrocketing teenage pregnancy statistics.
The second time I met Miria with a team of other girls, I observed that she interacted less, was always withdrawn and never participated much in brainstorming sessions, had her head lowered most of the time and was fidgety.
I started cheering and ensuring she gets her praises and winner dance from “teacher” each time she got her stiches right. She started to loosen up but that wasn’t enough to get her chatty.
My reassurance to them has always been, “you don’t have to attain the highest level of education to be valuable. Find your passion, put effort and everything else will fall in place”
MIRIA SHE SMILED THAT DAY!!
I smiled back because her smile was contagious yet so pure I had never seen it.
Her usually calm self, pulled out a red beautiful scarf!
I screamed my lungs out and gave her one big congratulatory hug!! (Poor girl didn’t even know how to react to a hug)
My sessions with her have got better because she is willing to move over to other girls and tell them, “hold your crochet needle like this”, with a beam.
I love to watch her giggle and laugh her heart out at funny incidences.
I am learning that;
Sometimes, circumstance and limited exposure is what holds many people back.
The best we can do is share with others, whichever resources we have within our means to make this world a happier and better place!