Happy Fathers’ Day from African Revival!
June 19, 2015African Revival would like to wish all the fathers and father-figures across the globe a very happy Fathers’ Day! Today, we honour YOU, and we hope you feel appreciated and valued by all those who love you most. To celebrate this day, we caught up with some of the P6 pupils at one of our Model Schools, Cubu Primary, to find out what they love about their fathers.
Patience:
Patience’s father passed away when she was young, but she lives with her grand-father who has been an excellent father-figure to her: “I love my grand-father because even though he is retired and has a small pension, he still pays my school fees, and he is very honest. When we have finished all our work, he tells us stories at night-time which is nice. Also, I can tell him my problems, and he will always help me- we always talk together.” Patience also takes good care of her grand-father: “I always wash his clothes, and cook him food when I am at home, and we always go to church together, and come back together.”
What does Patience think are important qualities for a father to possess? “A father should be able to look after his children, provide for them through buying food and clothes and paying school fees. It is also important to show love, care, and kindness- that is important; you need to make sure your children are ok, and nothing is wrong with them.”
Achai:
Achai lives with his father Chajo in the Gulu district. What does Achai love most about his father? “I like speaking with my father- I feel like I can come to him to ask him for things I need, like paying my school fees. He pays school fees on time, and looks after me. To say thank-you, I do things like fetching water each day.”
Chajo has been a positive role-model to Achai, who told us: “I want to be like him when I am older. One-day I want to be a dad, and I will do all these things for my children, too. I send them to school, and buy them things and show them care.”
Opa:
Opa’s father currently works in South Sudan, so she doesn’t see him as often as she would like, but he tries to visit as often as possible- she enjoyed a visit with her dad just last week! Opa is grateful to her father because he always pays her school fees, and encourages her in her studies. As such, Opa told us that “I try to perform well at school to make my father proud, because I know he is happy that I am in school”. Besides paying school fees, Opa is happy that her father works so hard to “provide food for the family, and buys clothes for me and my brothers and sisters. I miss him, but it is always nice to see him again.” We hope that Opa’s reunion with her father in August will be very special, and that their time together will be full of joy!
Fathers come in all shapes and sizes, but we can all agree that they play such a crucial role in their children’s lives; we believe that parents’ input is absolutely fundamental to a child’s development and well-being which is why we work so closely with parents and community members in all our programmes. We are delighted to hear that Patience’s, Chajo’s and Opa’s fathers are so loving, and supportive of their education!
We’d love to know: what do you love most about your father? Do tweet us!
