The forgotten kids of Africa

I just blend in, doing what others do. I try not to look out of place, they can’t see that I’m different, they can’t see that I’m not from where they are from. I smile because I have to, I laugh because they are laughing, at what? I am not quite sure. I try to be normal but what does that mean, when I don’t have a home to go too after all that smiling and laughing, when I don’t have food to eat.

It’s difficult to think about the fact that while I suffer and struggle, there are people my age who aren’t. I wish I was one of them, those who don’t have to worry about what to eat in the morning or the evening, I wish I knew where I would go to sleep, when I’m done blending in. what if my parents were still alive, would this be my life? I guess I will never know.

I am tired of people laughing at me, I’m tired. Even though I’m tired it won’t help, I still will wake in the morning earlier then everyone else, I still have to get dressed up and blend in, with an empty stomach and a smile on my face.  

I wish I could go to school, I wish I had $2 for this terms school fees, so I can be like all the other kids and go to school. For now, I will blend in and keep quite in hopes that no one will notice that I have not paid my school fees, in hopes that I don’t get kicked out.

I am so young yet because of the HIV/ AIDS virus that has killed my mother and my father, I find myself having to look after my little sister, with every cry she screams out, my heart is burdened with the fear of raising a child while I too am still only a child. Her screeching cry reminds me of the future I may never see, it’s a cry that cuts deeper than any dream I can imagine for myself, and this is my life. 

Maybe one day the government will care enough about children like me and help us, by giving our families two dollars for our education, maybe the world will one day care about little African children, or the leaders of the world will sit down and think about us. For now we make our beds anywhere that does not rain, where we won’t be cold, but there is just too many of us, how will they know I’m among the crowed? Once again I have to blend in, smile with those who smile and laugh with those who laugh. 

inspires by the documentary "Forgotten kids of Zimbabwe"