Breaking the shackles of abuse

Chelsy Nyasha Saungweme

They say a journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step

I have begun my journey on the long road home

I have seen my colleagues massacred in Soweto, DRC and Mozambique

I will run fast till I get home

Are my rights as a child realised?

I have been in shackles of abuse

Caged and silenced

Tied and bound to rape and discriminated against

Lost and dozed with no identity

Education remain just but a dream.

Shoulders heavy and laden with responsibilities

My body frail and weak from sickness and diseases

I cling to hope of reaching home, of reaching freedom

A new day has come. I will not be married off at a young age

A new era has arrived, where I have access to information

The void of being alone has been closed, for I am everyone’s child

One by one, we the children of Africa shall overcome.

 

Chelsy Nyasha Saungweme is a Grade Seven student at Chancellor Junior Primary School in Mutare