We have two children living with us in the house currently. Their stories are very sad and while it has been EXHAUSTING every day with them, the difference in them is AMAZING from when they first came.
Chinyere is an 8yr old girl and Chinomso is an almost 9yr old boy. They have both experienced severe physical abuse in their lives, observed terrible ritual practices, and have lacked the basic necessities in life such as enough food and water, family, education, friends, and love. You can see in their eyes that the majority of them is no longer a child. They have come to us very scared, frustrated and angry. Due to their back grounds we have had to cover the basic training such as using a toilet, having a bath, eating, sleeping in a bed. Both of them at some point had been in a school although rarely attended during that period, so we are also starting at square one as they have not known any numbers, their alphabet or even colours. They have pretty much ZERO attention span, they do not know how to get along, and they do not react well to any sort of boundaries. It is all a work in progresses. It is very strange and hard for them. With that said while we have days filled with tears, we also have laughing and smiling now too. Chinyere is coming along well as she has been here for over three weeks, the improvement is HUGE. Chinomso has not been here up to a week so he is having a hard time still. Teaching to change behaviours is much more difficult then teaching to learn behaviours. We love these kids and they know that already. The changes they both have made from when they first arrived is noticeable everyday.
