SCHÜLERMUSEUM
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last updated: 26.07.2001
Street Child Poem
Anne lives at the moment in Pendekezo Letu Center in Nairobi, Kenya. Her family lives in Mathare, the biggest slum in Kenya. Anne's mother and father have six children, and they all live in one room. Their father works as a watchman and their mother sells food that she prepares herself. The family arrived in the city from the countryside. Anne s father is an alcoholic.
Anne herself has worked since her early childhood days. She is very intelligent and has a talent for poems.
I have something to say,
But I'm a street girl and nobody cares.
I have a point to make,
But nobody listens.
If a child lives with hostility,
She learns to fight.
If a child lives with encouragement,
She learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise and friendship,
She learns to find love in the world.
But I look around and ask myself
"Where is my helper?"
Just because I'm a street girl nobody cares.
I beseech you be merciful to street children
And come to their aid.
They need food, clothing and education,
But most of all they need love.Children are the pride of Africa.
Section from:
Hidden Lives - Voices of Children in Latin America and the Caribbean
Duncan Green 1998
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