My essay is about the day when my father beat me up with the head of a belt.

It was on the 24 of January when I was at junior school doing grade 6. My friends and I were sitting down outside the class under the tree. We saw a girl who was tall and had long black hair. We asked her to come and join our group called YTGs which stood for Young Talented Girls, but she refused.

After she refused we laughed at her saying that she does not belong to our school and country because she was from Ghana. We even said she is iKwere-Kwere. She told my father about what we were doing to her, and my father punished me by beating me with his belt.

I felt so embarrassed in front of my friends and teachers, even the community members, because they were saying that my father and mother are teachers but the way I behaved was not good. My parents were so embarrassed too.

After this event, what I learnt was that you do not have to discriminate against another person. And you do not have to treat a person who does not belong to your country or your family differently to the way you treat your friends and family members. You have to treat people equally because we are all human beings and we are the same. What could change that?