In the eyes of a child......

Have you ever experienced a situation wherein you don't want to show something bad to a child but you can't control the situation and there's nothing you can do but to leave?

It was in March 2010, about few days before we left Al Ain City for our annual vacation when I and my hubby were walking at the Town Center, and stopped by at one of the jewelry shops when I have witnessed a street scenario wherein two women were having an argument and their voices were at the top of their heads. As an expatriate and for someone like me who can only understand some basic Arabic, I did not completely understand what they were arguing about. It was the body language that somehow stressed that they were fighting about something.

While the women were shouting at each other, I saw this cute Sudanese girl, cuddled by her mother, looking at the scenario. It looked like the mother was totally unaware of the scenario outside the jewelry shop and completely engrossed by looking at the jewelries. Few minutes later, I saw one of the women slapped the other woman's face while the other one was crying. I turned my head to the child and she saw me looking at her and that prompted me to take a snapshot. There was a sudden feeling that I wanted to take the child away from that place while I was looking at her eyes. I was wondering what was in the child's mind. I was so sad that I couldn't do anything but to leave the scenario.

On another poignant and perturbing note, if you were reading the newspapers and watching the online news, or following the headlines on the television, I'm pretty sure that you are aware of what had happened in the Philippines, my home country, for the past 24 hours. My prayers are with those of the victims. May the healing hands of our Lord God touch the bodies of those who are in critical condition and we reach out to the families of those tourists who died yesterday in that very tragic hostage drama.

There are so many "what ifs, what and whys" inside my head. I noticed that there were lapses between the negotiating officers and the suspect, police officers were unprepared for the battle and it was so disgusting to see that they were not properly equipped and used the sledgehammer to open the door of the tourist bus. Ahhhhhh.... what a shame! If I am going to state my countless observations, I will end up writing a complaint letter :(

Looking back at the scenario mentioned above, I can say that it was far lighter compared to what had happened in the Philippines but just the same, it was such a disturbing scenario for that innocent child. How about the young victims of the hostage drama? I can almost imagine the traumatic experience of those children inside the bus albeit they were freed long before the shootout had happened.

As a pediatric nurse, I always look at the child's eyes whenever I perform my general assessment. It tells me  when I needed to do something to alleviate their pains and worries, offer my hands and act as a surrogate mother. In the situations mentioned above, all I can do is to offer my prayers and hope that they will forget those traumatic experiences. If I could have their eyes covered so they won't see the hatred and violence, then I would. If I could have shield their minds so that their thalamus won't perceive the hatred and violence, then I would but I know that these are impossible. 

In this difficult time, I hope and pray that peace, love and understanding reign in our hearts. For all the parents out there who did take a moment to explain to their children of what had happened and instilled values in their offspring's mind, thank you so much.