Tribute Documentary Zimbabwes Forgotten Children

New draft Zimbabwe’s Tribute Documentary Zimbabwe’s Forgotten Children Mama will be left behind when I die I’m too sick to survive My education was put to an end When papa had no more to spend We walk over sewage water And sell plastic bottles for cents We eat leafy greens and maze meal We had some money With our papa’s slum shop But they wiped it out I’m afraid to talk Can’t speak out against the boss I fold the blankets Make the fire And clean out mama’s bucket of poo Papa is gone Died from HIV And mama is trailing behind I’m sick, too Baby sister needs my care My daughter, I pity you A girl your age should not have this much to do My heart breaks Oh deliver me, God the creator I feel the tears my mother cry I cry a silent terrible cry When she dies I’ll jump right behind Cardboard boxes and blankets keep me warm outside I came here when my mother died I beg for food I’ve slept in a wrecked car I use plastic to keep out the rain The baby cries when the food runs out With no other choice I dig for gold Got to watch my back It’s illegal The farms grow weeds If I look dirty, I get beaten by police They hit me too, When they make me work on the farm Get fed once if at all Me and grandma have one meal Beans and maze meal The beans are poisonous And must be boiled plenty And the skins must be removed I go to bed hungry when there’s no food I have no time to play Me and my friends struggle together Climb trees Harvest sticky berries To trap small birds Grandma ate ants first After she fainted of hunger Broke off their heads And ate their bodies Cholera kills some Hunger stalks the land My tummy , throat and ears hurt Hunger has been the worst I can barely talk Mama has diarrhea and vomits Police and soldiers Made us destroy our houses So we did And we packed our bags And resides in wastelands We ate until it disappeared I’ve suffered too long A year without my daughter You’re wrong I went to beg with other girls And never came home The church women accompanied me And helped bathe mama HIV scares me But I don’t always use protection It’s been long since mama bathed Her feet attract flies My heart is sore Our food will arrive Through foreign aid What will become of my children ? Mama says My brother beats me How will he raise them? Mama took a deep breath and died Take care of yourself she said Big sister gets hit by him, too She is back on the street begging He looks after us But he’s barely around My infant sister cries out for mama Mosquitos and flies surround open sewers So we head to the bush or under a tree to potty Papa taught us how to dig for bones We shall never be beggars , on our own I’m sick of people laughing at us And telling us to leave We collected several sacks of bones to sell It retrieves and bleach sugar The waters have few fish And the sticky berries are not trapping birds Grandma will have her child schooled Even if it kills her and you Grandma begged and pleaded for me to go to They say pay at least fifty cents So I can enroll This bright child Is raised in filth Because grandma can’t afford it Daddy grows cotton To finance our school fees He speaks English , too If I were president, Schools and jobs would be universal And I would fix broken things Nearly 90 percent of us students were turned away We were not taught anything new For tuition and smarts come at a cost I was made in Zimbabwe Marckincia Jean Narrative 06/12/19