โ๐๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝโ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ: ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
…By Luchuo Engelbert Bain
I must confess, this was the first time in my life that I celebrated International Menโs Day. (Indeed, I had no idea it even existed, even as a father myself.)
Attending the International Men’s Day event organized by the African Population and Health Research Center this year imposed a “pause and reflect” moment for me.
As I reflect on how my dad treated me as a child through my adolescence, I value even more the role fathers play in the lives of children.
I found it exceptionally funny when I asked my dad, a couple of weeks ago, to share the message he retained from church. This was a question I had to systematically answer after mass while growing up.
๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ญ: ๐๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป โ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐น๐
I had terrible handwritingโpossibly the worstโduring my early years in secondary school. Despite performing relatively well academically, my dad bought a handwriting book for me. He tasked me with writing, โThe old black fox jumped over the lazy dogโ 100 times. It transformed my handwriting!
๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ: ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป โ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ
As a kid who enjoyed playing, especially football, I was devastated when my dad (in good faith, as I now understand) completely forbade me from playing. At the time, it felt like torture.
๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ฏ: ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐๐๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ bitter and ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐๐น๐๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐
In secondary school, I had to sweep the house surroundings, clean my dadโs shoes, iron his clothes, sometimes work on the farm before heading to school, and still be on time for classes.
๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ: ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐๐น๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ธ ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น
As an English teacher, my dad nurtured my love for literature by correcting me after every one or two sentences I spoke. I began writing numerous applications for sponsorship, knowing he couldnโt afford certain opportunities I needed to achieve my goals. I become comfortable in daring to apply as well as taking rejection as a source of encouragement to apply more:
๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ฑ: ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐
๐๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅโ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆโ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ตโ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ. ๐๐ถ๐ณ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅโ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ด.
I strongly believe that โfathershipโ plays a key role in shaping true leaders.
Thank You, Dad: Luchuo Patrick Mubang.
