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So there I was sitting in my office and getting on with the day’s work when I received an email saying my domain name “Helpsaveouryouth.co.uk” would expire on the 18th of May, 2012.
It completely broke my heart because it struck me right then that I had not completely achieved what I set out to do when I created the website.
Let me back up a bit and tell you how it all began; it must have started about three (3) years ago, living in London and hearing demoralizing news of teenagers being senselessly stabbed with knives on the streets; every time I heard it, it pierced my heart and I could never make sense of the dastardly act. I would find myself being really sad every time I heard of another teenager being killed and I thought to myself, this has to stop somehow. One teenager lost is a grieving mother, father, a grieving brother, sister, aunty, uncle, nephew, niece and grandparents.
I have a 15-year old brother and it would literally tear me to pieces if anything ever happened to him and I can only half imagine what the families that are left behind have to suffer; the pain, the regret, the devastation…
So one day, I thought to myself, I can either sit here and cry every time I hear of another teenager being stabbed or do something about it and that is how the initiative “Help Save Our Youth” was birth. I started out by creating the website to give information about the crime and allow people to fill questionnaires about the crime; I sent out questionnaires, got responses and eventually wrote a report based on my findings which I sent to the office of the prime minister, the home office and even the queen. All of whose offices have written back severally highlighting the measures they have put in place and are putting in place to reduce the knife crime in the UK but somehow I do not think it is enough because teenagers are still dying on the streets and getting injured almost on a daily basis. My last letter to the authorities must have been somewhat direct and straight talking because I think, I had already had enough and I remember saying to myself while writing “Tolu, you probably would never be given a visa to enter the UK again, you would probably get blacklisted at immigration, lol” but I really did not care about that, all I wanted to do was send my message across – that I did not think they were trying hard enough.
Children are not born bad but are a product of the society in which they find themselves; they grow up in a country where discipline is shunned, where the lines between right and wrong are blurred and where even the authorities they have over them like their parents and teachers do not have the right to discipline them properly and we turn around and blame the children for turning out the way they do? I believe that the society has a big part to play in this and the earlier we realize it, the better. When I say society, I mean all of us (Neighbors, friends, parents, teachers, Government, etc.)
Now, I am stuck here in Nigeria feeling helpless about my dream to help eradicate knife crime in the UK and I get this message saying renew or continue?
Of course I would renew because I feel strongly about this but how do I achieve this objective when I am on the other end of the world? Only God knows but I certainly don’t think I want this dream to die just yet. So if there is anybody out there reading this that might have suggestions or solutions, I would be glad to have it.
Kindly visit http://www.helpsaveouryouth.co.uk/ for more information on this…
I pray that someday, there can be an end to all of this.
The pictures below are pictures of some of the teenagers that have been lost to knife crime in the UK.