Dancer by Vickie Sears

When I read this story, it reminded me a lot about my childhood life. Apart from dancing, I used to see a lot of young children playing bicycle on the sides of the road in my small village in Fiji. I learnt so much from them, their bicycle movements. I asked mum if she could buy a bicycle for me, she agreed and took me to a home-made furniture store and bought a cool, black and flashing bicycle for me. With excitement, I rode and rode around and around the village. My balance skill has been improved well whilst riding my bicycle. I was the one who was an expert at riding the bicycle without my hands using the bicycle handle. That was similar to Clarissa as she grew into a good dancer because she learnt so much in the dancing class during her childhood.

The agency folks said she was “sociopathic” because she was acting like an adult. In science, it means a person who has anti-social personality disorder. But the care-taker convinced that it was not that condition, Clarissa has. Her care-taker thinks Clarissa is like a normal child who ran just like any other kid. In my childhood experience, I was very mischief which all of my family members didn’t like. They were upset because they thought that I, being deaf could affect my behavior a lot rather than normal children. Clarissa was anciently from the tribe “Assiniboin” which people of that tribe believed that the old Eagle woman spirit could help her to achieve the things she wanted to learn for example moving feet well when dancing.

I felt sad when reading this story because nowadays many mothers left their small children to a foster home where the care-taker looks after them. Real mothers should have thought twice before sending their kids off to a foster home.

But the positive thing about the care-takers was that they allowed the kids to take whatever they wanted to learn. Every child has the right to do opportunities if given. Like the lady allowed the girl to attend the dance class to learn Owl dance, Friendship dance and a couple of Circle dances. I was delighted with the little girl’s performance.