School Loans….A Loan of Knowledge
Writing by Jes on Friday, 2 of January , 2009 at 4:47 pm
I got my school loan bill today. Just say, long story short I owe the government and unless we can negotiate on the child labor laws of the first unborn child I shall bear, I will be dealing with that collector for a long time coming. So staring at this bill and the glaring words of “PAST DUE” I grimace thinking of the many ways I will prostitute myself to make this monthly payment I was hit with a realization of truth.
Liberia doesn’t have a public school system, they don’t have governmental assistance programs to help with school other than scholarships or work related schooling. People are not given the chance or the right to gain knowledge. Education is looked at as the answer for all struggles and here…it is something that you have to fight for. You have to fight just to be able to pay for a normal life. And it starts with the youth.
It is only customary for us to see children in school. America has a free public school system, meaning that every child under the age of 16 must be attending classes somewhere within the United States borders. Liberia doesn’t have that same concept. I see children all day walking around selling small items so they can contribute to the family income. In the rural areas, the schooling only goes to sixth grade and then it stops. No junior high, no high school courses, so a child can read but then what? There is no life after learning, so why learn?
If you ask a child here what is it they want to do, the answer is school. Whether it is elementary, high school, or college, all answers end up being those that deal with education, which is no wonder as well, that one of the biggest money makers here are universities and training institutions. So it boils all down to money. Those who have it get knowledge, and then they are positioned to gain power. Those who don’t have money continue to live in cycles of poverty.
And if they had a choice, do you think a parent would sacrifice being able to feed a child for the opportunity for that same child to spend all day in a book? How do you look at your hungry child and tell them it is more important that money go towards school fees and uniforms rather than their tummy? Money is an unfair game and here it is the cost of opportunity. Majority of the schools are private and for less than my monthly cell phone bill, a child can go to school for a full semester.
So now, even though I owe money, I realize that I was given an opportunity and promise for my dreams to come to pass. With just a questionnaire, tax return, and a couple of forms a financial promise was given to me with the expectation that I would graduate and be able to repay on this dream. Its like someone believed in me without me having to prove my worth. My heart guided me to the correct place and that was a degree.
We are giving opportunities and chances that we choose not to capitalize on. We finds ways to wallow in self-doubt and destructions holding on to excuses that limit our possibilities. There is no excuse when a position opens itself up to you. You have to be in a mind frame that you will do whatever it takes to accomplish your goal until you can’t anymore. Let someone else lend the soundtrack that says “No.” Don’t limit yourself before you even try to play. Sometimes trying to be in control of your destiny means that you are in control of your fall. Being such a control freak and not capitalizing on a blessed opportunity is a slap in the face for all those who are oppressed and can’t decide their own fate. The world is like that. There is a group of forgotten people who cannot remove themselves out of a rut and then we in America throw away scrapes because we are not in a good mood. It’s just sad that our scrapes could change a life out here.
School is not a game. This loan of learning was a chance that isn’t afforded here and the time I spent in school shouldn’t be wasted opportunity. The loans that we are given because we stand on American soil should be proclamation for prideful moments that are to come.
Category: January 09
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