Teaching Children About Coexistence
“I Am African & I Can” is a women’s empowerment blog highlighting stories of Black women’s struggles and successes.
By Hadiatou Wann | 06/18/2022
As the world becomes more interconnected, Sabirah Lucas is using her passion for humanity and many years of experience in childcare to nurture children into compassionate individuals who can coexist with those who are different from them.
Sabirah was raised by divorced parents and grew up moving around frequently (attending over 11 schools). After a while she refrained from making friends because she figured she would move again. A daddy’s girl, losing her father at 20 years old was a traumatizing experience which forced her to go from leaning on him for moral and emotional support to becoming independent and having to rely on Allah solely.
After working at 4-to-5day cares and having seen loopholes in the way daycares are operated, Sabirah opted for the entrepreneurial route. In 2019, she quit her job and launched her own business, where she could do things on her own terms. As soon as she launched her childcare business, parents from her previous jobs flocked to her. Immediately, she needed more help since she alone booked more than 3 families in one day.
Abi’s Children’s Services, LLC. provides 24-hour childcare services for parents who work throughout the day or night, or simply need someone to look after their kid when special occasions come up. Among the services offered at Abi’s Children’s Services are babysitting, Nanny Care, Overnight care, Potty Training, Event Daycare, Postpartum Care, and parental coaching.
Sabirah babysits along with the multiple sitters she hired to fulfill her business’s growing demand. Even though some of the parents she babysits for are educated, they always seek advice from her about ways to better cope or understand their child’s behavior. Her employees are CPR certified and have experience and passion for working with children. “They are not people who just want a job. They’re professionals.” Sabirah said about her qualified employees.
Before deciding to work with a family, Sabirah provides a questionnaire for parents seeking childcare services. This allows her to understand whether the parent is single, married, or whether the child lives in a religious home or not. This is one way this CEO ensures that Nannies are matched based on compatibility.
Most of the families she works with are Christians and Jews. However, she does not force her beliefs onto them, and vice versa. “We respect their beliefs, they respect ours," Sabirah said.
Over the years, the children have gotten so used to Sabirah that they understand the daily routines she abides by as a Muslim. A four-year-old she looks after is always eager to remind her to go pray when the Athan (call to prayer) goes off.
Sabirah has built so much trust with them that it is a challenge getting her employees to take over at times. Once, a 10-year-old boy she babysat was supposed to switch over to another babysitter. Although he was not pleased at first, he agreed out of love and trust for Sabirah.
"I'm not happy but if [Sabirah] trusts them, I trust them," the boy said.
With babysitting being viewed as an undesirable profession, Sabirah hopes that people can understand babysitters are skilled individuals who bring immense value to families. “I love the word babysitter. We are not lazy. We’re professionals,” Sabirah expressed.
One of the most important things she learned as an entrepreneur is setting clear boundaries all the while providing great customer's service.
The idea of her first children’s book came to mind when she was sitting at work one day and children were so interested in her hijab. That same day, she pulled out her computer and began writing. Within 3 days, she had completed the manuscript. However, its publication was not finalized until a year later because Sabirah kept changing the manuscript until she felt a child could easily understand the concept of hijab without getting bored.
This year, after contemplating on publishing the traditional route or self-publishing, Sabirah self-published her first and highly anticipated children’s book. In the first two months of the release of "My Babysitter Wears hijab,” over 500 copies were sold. As a first-time author, Sabirah was thrilled at the amount of positive feedback she received from young readers and their parents.
Singe age 10, Sabirah had wearing hijab, and fortunately she did not get bullied for choosing to do so. In fact, growing up she often found herself standing up for those who were bullied. Although she is comfortable being covered from head-to-toe in dark clothes, she understands that others around her in America may not be as comfortable due to not understanding the reason behind it. She wrote “My babysitter Wears Hijab” not intending to convert every non-Muslim child. Rather, to get them to be so familiar with hijab that when they come across any veiled person, they are not frightened.
Imoni Rodriguez, one of Sabirah’s closest friends says, “[Sabirah] is one of the most if not the most supportive, caring, compassionate, passionate people that I know. Especially when it comes to children I have seen her grow in so many ways starting with the beginning of her business. I have never seen a person who will risk it all to start a business to cater to the needs of children. I have seen so many teachers quit their jobs because of their dislike for the system and how they’re being tighter/treated. Instead of doing that she designed an entire business around it.”
Imoni continued, “If you simply hear how she talks to people she’s so gentle and understanding. You could literally see her passion exploding out from her. Not only am I happy to have her as a friend, I am happy that the community has her as she is an inspiration to all. Someone as kind and caring as her is the type of person We need!”
With her first book announcement going viral on social media and its release being a success, Sabirah plans to publish more books geared towards educating and entertaining Muslim and non-Muslim children. Though she's leaving an inerasable mark in the world with her published works and warm childcare services, she hopes that when she is no longer around, people cared enough about her to pray for her.
Inside the Life of an Author
“A strong woman is someone who knows when to ask for help. ”
“My first reading of the book felt full circle! After a year of working on “My Babysitter Wears Hijab,” I was finally able to enjoy being a new author! I’m excited to do more readings and get more comfortable in front of crowds.”
“Success is trying to please Allah.”
Connect with Sabirah:
Instagram: @Abischildren
Email: abischildren.services@gmail.com
Website: https://www.abischildren.com
Buy “My Babysitter Wears Hijab” here: My Babysitter Wears Hijab: Lucas, Sabirah, Shahid, Ujala: 9798547224133: Books: Amazon.com
Read other success stories here: www.iamafricanandican.com/blog
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