What makes a 9yr old want to die?

Something happened this week which blew my mind.  We do some incredible work at Kick4Life, and this week we saved a 9yr old girls' life......

I returned to work this week after some time off and chaired our normal monthly Management Team meeting.  I always start our management meetings with something called "time to think" where everyone gets to share one good thing that has happened to them in the last month and something they have learned.  It's a fascinating insight and everyone gets to understand each other and gets to know each other on a deeper level.  We got to our wonderful OVC Manager (she manages all our counsellors and mentors, and our programmes that we run with the most vulnerable youth in Lesotho), and as she started talking, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.......

At the beginning of this week, our office received a call from a mother who said she needed help.  Her 9yr old daughter wanted to commit suicide.....she wanted to die. The mother was immediately referred to our counselling team.  The girl in question hadn't been involved with any of our Kick4Life programmes previously, but the mother knew that we helped people and worked with vulnerable children and decided to call us for help. 

I can't even imagine how a child of nine years would decide that life was so unbearable, that she wants to die. What happens for a child to come to that decision?

Our Counsellors spoke to the mother and went to the school to talk to her 9yr old daughter.  They worked very skilfully and quickly to help the girl believe that life was worth living.  They were successful.......the girl has chosen to live......our team saved her life, like they save so many other lives of the most vulnerable young people in Lesotho......

That was our OVC Managers' "something good that has happened".  I think you'll agree, that was something pretty incredible! 

check out some of our work here www.kick4life.org