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THE SAD TRUTH HUMANITARIAN EDUCATORS NEVER TELL YOU

As a teacher who is keen on making sure the welfare of your learners is your priority, you always come up with ways to help solve the problems of your students even if you have to put their needs ahead of yours sometimes. You're always ready to play provider and helper roles for your pupils and you're always ready to support and assist the parents to take proper care of their children, then by now, you already know that these gestures come with their own demerits, it's always like anything with an advantage equally has a disadvantage.

A few months ago, I noticed that a student in my class was always coughing and when she coughs she vomits, I reported this to her mom who told me she is trying her best to provide local care in the form of agbo mixtures for her daughter and she was given the assurance that after her daughter takes the entire thing,  she was going to be fine, I watched the girl for another few days and as the weeks rolled by the girl wasn't getting better so I spoke to her mum again, this time I told her that her mixture wasn't working and that the girl needed proper medical care, she told me she had no funds to take her to the hospital. To cut the long story short, my pupil got worse one night and I got a call from the mom who sent me pictures of my student in the hospital with a drip wrapped to her hand, apparently, it got really serious and now they didn't have any choice or funds, so she called me at night when I was already sleeping, after hearing the story I sent her money to help pay the hospital bills.

One thing this parent didn't know was that I was also sick that night and I was to go see the doctor the next day and I had to split the money I had with me into two halves so my student could get proper medical care.

Agnes Onyekwere and her pupils on the field

After helping out a particular student in my class secure some funds to go back to school because she was pulled out of school due to the lack of funds and parental custody issue, these same parents get my student to call me and tell me that they need money, they make her do that all the time because they know I would most likely respond seeing that she's my student, and sometimes it is annoying when you can hear them in the background telling her what to say so she can get me to give them money. There are times when they call so many times that I have to stop picking up their calls, or even block the number because now I can’t sleep or get any rest without someone calling me for money.

On another occasion, I helped to get Christmas clothes for one of my pupils considering that his parents were not in a good place to think about anything other than surviving. So we were able to get some really nice stuff for him and all that...fast forward to the next Christmas, and my phone keeps buzzing because they expect me to buy him another Christmas clothes even when that same donor sponsors that child's entire education.

And because I don't like to see my learners looking a type of way, I get them to the tailor to fix their uniforms or get them new ones and buy them school stationary to make my work and learning easier. I buy them food when they are hungry, now some parents come to school to thank you, while others come to beg you for money, thinking that you are helping their children in class because you have unlimited funds which is not the case.

There are times I had to deal with giving some parents money in the form of transportation to take their children to school and back or to help with medication and all that.

It took some time before I started learning to say no sometimes especially when it's not favouring my own condition at the moment. It feels bad especially if you are the type that is always prone to want to help but at some point, I had to start setting certain boundaries and saying No, though to be honest, it's really hard for me to find that balance but it most certainly helps.

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