A Narrative Report Based on the Responses of Pupils /Students of Gateway School, Enugu,
to the BORDERS survey to celebrate.
The International Day of Friendship, with SDG Book Club Africa on 30th July 2021, we administered the SDG Book Club Africa survey to our children in the specified age ranges 6-12 years.
Our children within the age of 6-7 the children all affirmed that they have many friends and recognized the fact that friendship promotes love and unity. They agreed that without friendship, society would be disorganized, since a society where people understand one another is bound to be organized. They also gave reasons why they have friends.
Our children aged 8-9 agreed that children make friends anywhere they find themselves and enumerated the benefits of having friends. They all agreed that people are more organized when they are at peace with one another. The children also highlighted what friendship does in the society and all wish to live in a peaceful environment because peace promotes healthy living.
Watch the children of Gateway School, Enugu, talk to us about friendship
Our children aged 10-12, told us what friendship meant to them, explaining that friendship is a mutual understanding between people and that friendship means a peaceful co-existence between people living in a society. They also explained what it means to live in peace and solidarity: to some of them it meant accepting people's differences and settling disputes with dialogue and not violence. The children also mentioned ways to keep friendship and solidarity alive in our communities according to the UN SDG 11(safe resilient and sustainable cities and communities) and UNJ SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) goals. At the end of the interview, the children gave a shout out to their friends.
Author: Ngozika, Ezinne
Minna Salami is a Scandinavian-Nigerian scholar whom it has been a privilege to encounter ...
