![Citadel Foundation For Kids [CFK]](http://www.citadelfoundationforkids.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/cropped-Screen-Shot-2016-02-09-at-7.00.43-PM.png)
The potentials inherent in children from impoverished communities fuel my desire to contribute to the development of sustainable mechanisms for the alleviation of poverty, particularly in Africa. While growing up in Lagos as a Nigerian, I had exposures to the harsh reality of the economic deprivation children from impoverished communities deal with in their daily lives. I, however, never paid close attention to the struggles of those children and how the economic situations of their parents inhibit them from realizing their full potential. Moving to South Africa provided me with the opportunity to fully comprehend what it means to have restricted access to resources that provide human basic needs.
My perspectives on the graveness of poverty didn’t change immediately I got to South Africa. It took more than 7 months before that actually became a reality. During my stay in South Africa, I had one too many encounters with children who are rendered helpless by the financial situation of their parent(s) and in turn resort to making bad life altering decisions like stealing, joining gangs, and dropping out of school. These encounters, but one, made me accustomed to turning a blind eye to the fact that there is a lot to be done in preventing the moral decadence of children from disadvantaged families, but there are just a few people who care enough to institute the preventive actions.
The event that would awaken my consciousness to the negative effects of poverty on children occurred on what seemed to be a normal day. I had an encounter with a little school boy when I was in charge of my mother’s store on that fateful day. The little boy came into my mother’s store, stole some biscuits, and hurriedly ran out. As this was commonplace, I was not really bothered by the event that had just transpired, but when a neighbor noticed what the boy had done, he ran after him and brought the little boy back to the store. The little boy, with tears flowing down his face, pleaded for forgiveness and said something that struck a chord in me and will forever resonate with me. In his empathetic defense, he said, “I am sorry for stealing from you. My little brother and I are starving, but we have no money or food at home, and I could not watch my brother starve for so long”. The boy was no more than 8 years old, and he was already striving for not his but his brother’s survival. It became glaring to me that it was no longer possible for me to put on a facade of indifference. I realized the severity of the detrimental effects of poverty on children. As a result, my encounter with the child made me realize how important it is for me to be involved in instituting the means for breaking the generational cycle of poverty in impoverished African communities, thus providing means for children from those communities to achieve their life aspirations.
When I heard about Citadel Foundation for Kids, I knew it was an organization I needed to join because of its approach to poverty alleviation. Volunteering for the organization will provide me with the opportunity to have hands-on experience in making positive impacts on the lives of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. It will also create opportunities for me learn how to develop and implement mechanisms for practical poverty alleviation. I am nervous about this journey I am about to begin, and I hope the goodness that I see in children will never cease to be my motivation.
-Rebecca Bakare