MOTHER’S DAY AT DILKUSHA
Children at the Home say they miss their mums
Mum means the world to me. I miss you mum, although I have not seen you. These were the words written on a piece of paper by one of the children at the Methodist Dilkusha Home, Nausori, during a mock exercise with Deaconess Salaseini Watisovea Kacivakawalu, yesterday.
Another child wrote: “Mother? A strange word I wondered for someone who has never been able to use it to anyone.
One of the children said: “Successful mothers are not the ones who never struggle, but the ones who never give up despite their struggle.”
Deaconess Kacivakawalu, who is the Superintendent for the Home, said their Mother’s Day celebration today would be a little different from how they would normally celebrate it every year.
“We usually celebrate Mother’s Day at church, with the restrictions that are in place, we will have the fellowship here at the hall,” Ms Kacivakawalu said.
“Every year, this time would be an emotional time for the children because of the vague memory they would have of their mums, where the realisation of a mother figure was or is someone who is real.”
Ms Kacivakawalu, who have been with the home for over three years, also said the children in her care do not know how their mothers look.
“This morning I asked the children what a mum was like to you? Two of them left what they were doing and took a walk. These two, had never stayed with their moms all their lives, they do not know.
“They were given up by their mothers at a very young age, their birth certificates were created here after they were left with us,” she said.
The Home looks after 33 children, of which seven are boys and the rest are girls. The youngest is a three-year-old and the eldest is a 22-year-old.
Ms Kacivakawalu said the Home had been blessed with donations and help during the COVID-19 restrictions.