Introduction
Family is a set of individuals united by recognized birth, co-residence or marriage. So, my task was to take an interview with any family in order to learn more about what makes them a family. Early in the morning I prepared myself passably to conduct an interview. It was on a weekend on 10th of May, 2014. I had preserved the whole day to spend it in the humble settlements, in the outskirts of town taking interview. I spend half an hour to arrive at my destination. On arrival, I found myself in a different world and the smell dictated all about the location. Awful smell filled the air because of scattered garbage all over the place; the people looked dull and hopeless. I engaged in some conversation with a lady after giving her some milk I had carried in my bag. After a short conversation, she welcomed me into her home. It was a few miles away from the area we were standing. As we walked towards her home, she told me that she was married with five children and that some of her children are at school and the rest could not attend it because they lacked school fees. Before we entered into her house, we had to jump over some open sewerage system on reaching the entrance of the house. We hardly fitted through small doors as we had to stoop down when entering the house. Finally, we penetrated through and found ourselves inside.
Family
There we found a boy and a girl inside. They looked more like teenagers and after talking to them I found out that they were the ones left behind because they lacked school fees, while the rest were studying at school. They offered me a seat. Then their mother told me that currently she was not working, but the father of children is employed as a cobbler in a nearby shopping center. She further explained that these boy and girl sell groundnuts in small packets every evening in order to get a meal for that day’s supper. The woman told me that the boy was fifteen years old and the girl was thirteen years old.
The woman told me that she got married to her husband twenty years ago and they were blessed with five children. She never secured herself a good job because of lack of education, but she was selling groundnuts in small amounts through hawking in order to feed her children. She stopped the business and handed it over to her children when her drunkard husband accused her that most of her customers were men and he was suspecting infidelity. Presently she spends her day doing cleaning in the house and cooking. She was looking for another occupation, but her husband threatened to divorce her. The husband told her that he was feeling insecure in that he thought on her workplace as her beauty will be noticed by other men. The woman also leads the choir group in a nearby church (Gonzales-Mena, 2013).
The boy looked courageous from the way he answered the questions. He told me that he was the first-born in the family and that he did not like his parents’ way of life. He explained that he takes care of his young brothers and sisters and fights for them when the wayward boys in the slums offend them. He helps his parents to bring food in the house by selling groundnuts on the streets after school. He unveiled that he did not worry about missing school lessons because the teacher helps him to catch up with the rest and that he was always the student with the highest scores in the class. He disclosed that when his father comes home drunk, he has to take the children to their neighbor for refuge. The boy is one of the choir members in a nearby church.
The girl told that she supported her brother in selling groundnuts, helped her mother in cooking and cleaning when she was not at school. She said that she was working hard in her school to become a doctor and wishes that someday she will find the remedy for drunkenness and cure her father. She spearheads a school club with the mission of discovering the students’ potential. The girl revealed that she imparted her young brothers and sisters on how to work hard and develop the live of the family. She said that she led children’s drama club of Sunday school in their church. After the interview, I encouraged them that life was going to change and said that they should keep on working hard. Having successfully accomplished my work, I took a cab and went back home.
My Reflection
I learned that love and trust are pillars of the family life, and drinking of alcohol recklessly acts as a catalyst to poverty. It is displayed in the conduct of the father of these children. I also learned that fear acts as a barrier to progress and success in life. It is seen when the mother feared her husband and chose not to look for a new job. Hard work and determination give hope for a better future. Determination and hard work seen in both the boy and the girl, give them the hope for a pleasant life in future (Gonzales-Mena 2013).
The interview was valuable in that it made me recollect my efforts to work hard and more in my life. I gained experience after watching the way of life in the humble settlements. The interview has taught me up about my own family experience that I should always encourage love among my family members as it was seen that the abovementioned family lacked love of their father thus leading to lack of peace. I will encourage working together in my family just as the boy and the girl in the interview were encouraging each other in time of need. I did excellent in the assignment and I give myself an A grade.