WHAT A PITY!

On the first day of his arrival at his new school, Paul hoped for the best. He hoped for the love and understanding he missed since he joined class one. Now Paul was new in class four and had experienced a lot; hatred, stigma, lack of understanding and many more a child of his age could hardly endure. No one took the trouble to find out what the boy was actually suffering from.
Right from the word go, everyone in his new school distanced themselves from him. None would closely want to associate himself with the poor boy. He had messy clothes, smelly teeth and shaggy hair. The stench from his body suggested he missed constant bath. Paul was totally withdrawn and never played well with the rest of the children.
Like majority of the pupils, teachers also played the game never to pay attention to the boy. In fact others would scold him, send him away in case he needed any assistance. This made Paul oppressed and depressed. He never knew who and whom to take refuge from. However, one thing about this boy was that he had a non relenting heart. He did his school work very neatly even if his teachers never marked the books. When he was out of school, he made sure he finished the work done the previous day.
Mrs. Akumu, the class teacher, entered the class one day and told the children the truths and untruths. She was teaching them a C. R. E. lesson when she claimed that she equally loved them all. This was crystal clearly far from the truth as at the back row of the class was Paul.
She never took joy in marking Paul’s work and if she did, she would use bold Xs and very tiny ticks. She would go as far as writing ‘Failure’ at the bottom of his book. When calling the register, Paul’s name would be the last. She never reviewed his file or diary as she did to the rest of the class. However, when one day she did, she was in for a very rude shock. From his previous school, it was stated clearly that Paul is an excellent pupil, well liked by the classmates and teachers. He was hardworking and disciplined.
For sure, Paul was a much disciplined boy for the small time he had been there. The report went ahead and said, “However, the boy is seriously traumatized because he lost both his parents who were killed by armed thieves in his presence and therefore life at home may not be that smooth. As a result of all these, he is withdrawn and doesn’t have many friends. He sleeps a lot in class. Please understand him”
By now, Mrs. Akumu had realized his mistake and felt embarrassed of herself and felt sorry why he treated the boy like that. She reported the case to the teachers who changed their attitude towards the boy. Much worse happened during her birthday when the children brought her birthday gifts.
That fine morning when Mrs. Akumu went to call the register, she was busted by ‘happy birthday song’ and presents wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright crepe papers except Paul. His was awkwardly wrapped in a dirty green paper bag. Mrs. Akumu took the gift so happily that every pupil who was laughing at him got surprised. They all suddenly kept quiet when they saw the teacher opening the gift in the middle of the rest. Inside it was an old earring, an old cheap necklace that had all started to rust. A red scarf and a head cloth were also present.
She surprised the children when she took them exclaiming how beautiful they were and put them on. Inside him, Paul felt something burning in him; something he had missed for long, love, appreciation and understanding. When evening reached, Paul remained behind just to see Mrs. Akumu. As the teacher was leaving for home, he rushed towards her and called, “Mrs. Akumu, may I talk to you please?”
“Oh! Sure. What is it Paul?” said Mrs. Akumu in a more welcoming voice.
“You know teacher in those earrings, necklace and head cloth, you looked exactly like my mother.” he said as he bowed his head, his eyes welling up with tears.
“Thank you very much dear. Come here and give me a hug.” said Mrs. Akumu extending her arms to Paul. After a short while they parted ways and went home. For the first time ever after the death of his mother, Paul got a motherly hug.
This affected Mrs. Akumu very much. She cried for at least two hours. This affected her very much. She decided to pay close attention to the boy. With much love and care, Paul became different. He developed positive attitude towards everybody and was loved by almost all. He became friends with almost all his classmates who treated her in a good way. Paul concentrated in his work and managed to perform very well in his studies. Mrs. Akumu became like his mother and assisted him wherever necessary. Thanks to Mrs. Akumu, Paul’s life changed for better.