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I didn’t ask for his age but my judgment was quick to decide that he must be eight. He managed a shy smile in return for my facial sympathy. I fell for one thought straight away, this little kid, whom I regrettably did not get to ask about his name, must be one of those typical robust little villagers. His rat tail (long pony tail at the back of the head) and kiddy looks were sourly showered by broken limbs sustained from falling off a Ngali nut tree. In fact, his right forearm and leg were broken.

The fall occurred the other day and because medical resources were scarce to care for him at Nafinua Health Center, he was told to go to Kilufi hospital for a proper management which would possibly involve bone realignment under anesthesia.

I met him on board the truck on my way to Auki from East Malaita before Christmas last year. He was helplessly clinging on to a young man, who was possibly his elder brother, along the way as we endured the long rough ride under the hot sun to Malaita’s capital.

His mum sat close to me and it was during one of the brief stop-overs along the way that I asked her about her son.

I was medically overwhelmed to offer any assistance at that time and neither was I financially healthy to give him anything.

I noticed that the mother was carrying a little baby in her arms and to avoid the rays of the sun from hitting his barely naked body, he was shielded with a home made mat-a thing which probably did little to comfort the poor kid.

The cost of getting to Auki from East Malaita is $50 and by the look of things the family must have struggled to seek help for the trip which would probably include the extra expenses to be encountered during hospital admission.

The sad scene is not new to my area. In fact, it does speak of the struggles that my people, and I hope others in our beloved nation, are also facing on a daily basis as they try to get themselves into the spin of life.

What is sad about this is that some families have decided to brush aside what well-off people would think of as important for their children.

Curiosity drove me to observe a few characters around my area and I was intrigued to measure their level of understanding in the game of securing a secured future for their children.

John (not his real name) is an illiterate jobless man who tends gardens in a tiny village in the jungles of Malaita to feed his family of six.

Lately, some of his children have resorted to quit attending school to help out in the garden. He had a kind of attitude that he shouldn’t care much about his girls whether they are educated or not let alone the boys whom, as relayed by his son, will one day take over the rights of the family when he dies.

His views aren’t shared by everyone else and Melody another villager comments, “it’s sad of a man to have those kinds of thoughts. Girls are not mere objects and whether they’re going away from you when they’re married or not, you’ll be blamed for whatever attitudes they’ll show when they live with their husbands’ families. Sensible people will impart wise advice to their children alike.”

But a stroll through the villages will somehow cast some sense, that's if you remember to weigh the burden of owning a large family, on what John had said. John’s family number is one of the minimums that many could go by.

I’ve come across a family of seven whom the father previously had four other children from his first marriage and is now finding it hard to keep things afloat.

A check at the local Primary school revealed amazing statistics. Despite the growing number of children, they only have an enrolment of over forty (40) students.

Albert Maesulia, the head master of Okwala Primary School cleared my mind-wondering during the closing of 2009 academic year. “Our poor enrollment is triggered by two things: failure of parents to encourage their children to get educated and migration. Many people have migrated to urban centers with the dreams of improving their lives.”

Now could we say that there haven’t been any fights to boost children’s interest in education in the area? Well we are not left in total darkness; for God’s sake I’ve managed to find some decent thinkers along the way.

Sonny , a teacher at the school was rock solid in his belief in education when he spoke to students  at the closing “you ought to understand that our efforts as teachers to talk and teach and all these is not for anyone else good-they are for your own good.”

He continued, “it’s quite disheartening as a teacher to see your former students helping themselves in front of you with kwaso, smoke and all these. Teaching is interesting but to me it’ll be more interesting and beneficial if your students become fruits of your desire.”

My cousins and I once had a well-worded talk from my uncle the other day and I was intrigued with his thoughts, “our old way of living is slowly giving itself to modern life. Those who want to stick to it will one day realize that life will be harder.”

His words might not be interpreted on the same level by everybody but to me such a mind does represent the well thinkers in the area whose loyal dream of securing a good future for their children can't be taken away from them. And I do hope that it'll one day over flow to fill the buckets of those who are still holding back their right to aspire. Perhaps such dreams will one day enable efficiency in services to an extent where long trips like the one which the poor boy had to endure with pain to Auki will be shortened.