Pedophiles: Enemies of Our Society!!!

Hello everyone,


I had a swell weekend and for that matter, hope you can say the same about yours (well, that is what I am wishing for everybody).


I slept very late last night, all because I was watching a show titled "Ghana's Most Beautiful." I personally do not know the reason why the show was given or bears that title, because it has nothing to do with beauty really. The judges make their pick based on their assessment of one's knowledge about her region and culture. The ten ladies (I must add gorgeous here) are selected from all ten regions of Ghana, and viewers are made to participate by voting their region to victory. So for me, the title should rather have been something like "Ghana's Most Beautiful Culture" or something that depicts the actual vision of the competition.


That was just by the way. My post for today has become very necessary because of a pedophiles story I read over the weekend, and I was like "what the hell!!!" The headline was "54year old man defiles an 8 year old girl". Sometimes we do not know how real and close this issue is, till it happens to us (directly, as in, to us, a friend/relation; or indirectly, to someone we know, however remote that person might be).


This story reminds me of  an incident that took place sometime ago to a young girl who lived with her mother in the same compound where we stayed. 


Before I continue with my story, I must submit to you that no child should be allowed to go through this horrific experience. So whether it is your biological daughter, your neighbor's daughter, your house help, or a child whose name or parent you do not know; or even a child that sleeps on the street, you must take a stand against this canker-worm that is eating into the fabrics of our society, and I hope this story will make you more determined towards that direction.


Now I am fighting back the tears that have welled up within, and I am desperately wishing I don't have to continue writing this piece, but I feel indebted to this girl, much more now because of the story I read and I believe that if this is how I can contribute a sword to this battle (which I insist we can win if we fight for it like we fight for office/political positions and landed property). we will win the battle against pedophiles at last.


I grew up in a compound house, You know how it is in compound houses with kids and because of that parents become close, yes? Well, that was how our  own case was. I want to call the 11year old girl in question Maame, and this is how the story as far as I can remember was, because it has been a while.


I remember my brothers and I got back from school one afternoon to find Maame crying so sorrowfully and refusing to be consoled or comforted; and she wouldn't share the reason for her grief with anyone either. So not knowing what to do to make her talk or stop crying, we decided to be with her till she felt safe.


Later that evening, Maame's mother was shouting on top of her voice and trowing tantrums towards paapa kwame's room (another neighbor with his family) and this man, was one quiet person and very respected. Paapa Kwame was so good that anytime he buys candies and biscuits for his kids he makes sure to buy, if not for every kid, at least most of us and we loved him to bits for that. Before we knew it, a small crowd had gathered to find out what the confusion was all about.


We later got to know that, Paapa Kwame had actually tried to rape the poor girl but could not succeed because the girl was screaming to the extent that he probably feared of being caught in the act or otherwise. 


Who could have imagined, that a noble man such as Paapa Kwame could be capable of such actions...? There is no clear cut way of identifying a pedophile just by merely looking at them, but when they manifest, these people are predators who are sexually attracted and desire sexual relations with children and young people whose sexual features have not developed at all, luring them with all sort of things ranging from money to candies, etc. 


Lessons learnt.

• Let us be careful with the sort of people we call friends and neighbours. In our own case, we all lived like a family. But also remember that, not all of them are bad, I mean we have some exceptional ones who become like real family
• Children should report such incidents to their parents or people they could trust so that the appropriate action(s) could be taken against such predators. In Maame's case, we tried all we could to find out what the problem might be, she didn't tell us but waited until her mum got back from work
  
• Parents should be able to know their kids well enough to notice any form of changes in the body movement and any other strange or untypical character they begin to exhibit.
• We should beware of "some" men who say  "this your daughter is nice so she is/going to be my wife" and for that matter tend to be extra nice towards them. Not all of them have bad intentions though but just so we be on our guards because you cannot fully guaranty a person's motives.
  
• Lastly, I leave you with this, If God is before you, He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. As believers, we must understand that our faith journey should not be dependent on what is presently going on around us nor should it be subject to what we fear but rather rooted and grounded in the One who has gone before us. Safety is of the Lord. Always... Always pray for your children. The Lord will keep them safe.
  

I hope we have learnt a thing or two from this story. 

Peace... I'm out