Título: A reflection from childhood, in times of quarantine.

Frase destacada: She said: "Wait for me here, I will bring something from my room."
When she came back, her hand was decorated by a "spray", she filled it with soap
and water, and asked me to accompany her around the place. Meanwhile she was
saying to me: - you know, the virus is messed up, every day we have more cases
and I know that it is in the environment. In this "spray" I made my own substance to
combat it, accompany me to water our surroundings so that we are safe.-

Autor: Hernán Augusto Tena Cortés

Twitter: @Hernan_Tena
Correo: heteco2010@gmail.com

A reflection from childhood, in times of quarantine.

Hernán Augusto Tena Cortés

She is a 7 year old girl, whose name I will keep. I am a teacher who works as a social
pedagogue and in synthesis, I must take care of her and contribute to her education for life. Like
every human being, there is a story behind her, one of those that we do not believe is possible in
children of her age.

From now on I will call her Kelly, as she reminds me of a student I had with a very similar
profile. Society has included her in that social niche labeled "vulnerable children"; Yes, it's a pity, all
professionals in education want these stories to be that, stories.

I started working with her a month ago. Unsurprisingly, she put up a bit of resistance at first;
after all, it was natural to ask herself why to trust me? I persevered and I was able to break the ice,
since then, little by little and from sharing, a relationship supported by affection has been built.

Today was a particular day, it motivated me to start writing, while I helped her sleep, I had a
conversation with her that left me thinking. Before going into details, I want to tell you a little about my
day at work. I started around five in the afternoon one more day of social pedagogy, to those who
read me from Colombia, I will tell you what this is about, in the nearest future.

The afternoon was Irish, I say this because the sky was decorated with gray clouds, they say
it is normal. The temperature was not low, nor high, but it was perfect for my taste. When I entered
my workplace, I greeted Kelly, she responded with that effusiveness that characterized her when she
is in a good mood. Immediately afterwards she said to me: "Hernán, take me to the swings, I want to
play." I accepted, but that desire did not last more than three minutes, then she wanted to change his
activity.
 She said: "Wait for me here, I will bring something from my room." When she came back, her
hand was decorated by a "spray", she filled it with soap and water, and asked me to accompany her
around the place. Meanwhile she was saying to me: - you know, the virus is messed up, every day
we have more cases and I know that it is in the environment. In this "spray" I made my own
substance to combat it, accompany me to water our surroundings so that we are safe.-

That innocence that characterizes ALL children, is still there. Kelly, despite her history,
maintains her creativity and carries within that spirit of wanting to save the planet. It was impossible
not to make a mental break to compare with the behavior of children in other latitudes, the experience
has allowed me to interact with creatures of different nationalities, and I again conclude that they are
in essence all equal, all are potential geniuses.

After a while, we had dinner, chatted for other minutes, and I asked her to get ready for bed.
She replied: "Okay, I'll put on my pajamas and I'll call you when I'm ready." So she did, it took her
about 15 minutes to call me. I entered her room and we performed that daily routine before sleeping.
Basically; it is to play a game in an electronic device, then videos of her favorite series are watched
and finally, a book is read.

This is where I want to stop; for a moment she said to me: -Hernán, do you think it's okay if I
tell you a bit of my story, sometimes I need to have someone to talk to.- I replied: -of course, I'm here
to listen to you. We all have stories, it is part of learning life.-

She replied: -very good. Look, I've had four dads, one passed away, there's no point talking
about him, he died in a car accident. However, another one of them makes me very sad. I loved him,
but he treated me like garbage. Every day he came from the pub, smelled like perfume, and had
lipstick. He did not treat my mom well, he never said good night to us before sleeping and he did not
cook to us either. However, I loved him, but he left us.-

I listened to her, looked at her and internally thought that a girl of only 7 years old was
speaking to me as if she were 15. I connected the dots and several questions raised. Well, I thought
it was interesting to think in her head what did she mean when she said that she had four dads? Also,
what was her ideal father figure like? because she cried out affection and manifested that the dad
she loved treated her like garbage for not saying good night, not preparing food for her and not
showing fondness.

She continued her narration and at one point wanting to cry, she said: -Hernán, thank you for
listening to me, forgive me, I do not understand why we ended talking about negative things, I did not
want mean to do that, let's change the subject. I replied, "don't worry, that's why I'm here to listen to
you." She finished, "thank you, honestly, thank you very much." Before arriving here, I had a foster
family, they treated me like garbage, they believed that I was a slave, thank God they moved me
here. I know that soon I will be able to be with my mom again, I really miss her a lot.-
 The time passed by, and we kept the expressed routine, we finished reading and I asked her
if she would like to do the Lord’s Prayer, but she said to me: -no Hernán, I only do church topics
there, because they bring back bad memories and I don't want that in my bed. But if you want, if you
feel better, we can do it.- Mixed feelings I felt, for me it was still difficult to process that it was a 7-
year-old girl expressing herself.

I have been able to work with children for several years, in fact, when she was born, I was
already teaching and sharing experiences.. I know that some add a little imagination to their stories
and that many times, not everything they say is true. However, from a psychological point of view, it
is known that there is creativity in their stories, that creation has a cause, the same one that I will try
to find along the way.

So my dear readers, without knowing what percentage of her stories are true, I can conclude
that it there is a lot to think about. Well, she only describes a very common home, and it is there,
where we as adults could make a pause to evaluate what kind of nurture are we giving to our
children? and to stop thinking that because they are kids; they don't understand, they don't listen or
they don't see.

Close your computer or lock your cell phone and take five minutes to reflect on your daily
experience, and thus avoid Kelly's story repeating itself close to your home, or worse, in yours. Soon
I will be telling you more surprises of this childhood that surrounds me today. And how about you; do
you have something to share?

Let's reflect together!