Prossy's Poem

(please excuse the weird fonts and sizes... my blogger is being weird)!

The other day at Obiya IDP Camp (August 23), the kids recited some poems and sang songs for us. At most camps, they dance some of the Acholi traditional dances, but at Obiya, the kids are younger overall and I don’t think they know the dances well yet, so they sang instead. One 12-year-old girl named Prossy recited a poem that she wrote, and it blew my mind. Her poem begs for recognition of her rights, something I rarely, if ever, thought about at age twelve. If Prossy read her poem to her guardians (aunts/uncles/grandparents) or to her teachers, she would be labeled as a rebellious child, so I feel honored that I got to be there, and impressed that she was brave enough to recite it to us.

Yesterday (August 30), we got a chance to go back to Obiya Camp to distribute food and take photos of all the kids for Village of Hope's child sponsorship program. I asked Prossy if she would be willing to recite her poem for our video, and she smiled and said yes. Unfortunately, I’m having trouble uploading the video with blogger… if I can figure it out or find faster internet I will upload it, but for now, here are the words to her poem:

"Children Right is a Must"
by Piloya Prossy
Age 12, Class P-7
Obiya IDP Camp

All children have rights
I have a lot of rights
A right to eat
A right to trim
And they are precious to us.

All children have rights
My mother was very motherly
She used to give me food
She used to give me treatment
She was precious to me.

All children have rights
A right to go to school
And a right to talk my views
My mother could give me those
She was precious to me.

All children have rights
But let us claim my rights
My mother is no more there
She is deep in the grave
But she was precious to me.

All children have rights
Parents and teachers,
Doctors and nurses,
You all violate our rights
But they are precious to us.

All children have rights
Uncles and aunts,
Brothers and sisters,
Stop violating our rights
But they are precious to us.

All children have rights
We are talking to our fathers
We are talking to our mothers
We are talking to our aunts
Please, obey our rights.

All children have rights
Pregnant mothers, pregnant girls
Don’t dump us in the latrine
Don’t dump us in the dust bin
Our life is precious to us.

All children of Kenya
All children of Rwanda
All children of Uganda
All children of Tanzania
We all deserve our rights.

Please, please
Please, please,
Obey our rights.

The sad, sick statistical truth is that around 97% of girls in Uganda admit to being raped or abused by their teachers or guardians. Oftentimes, the school headmasters will give scholarships to girls willing to "give" something in return. This isn't okay and begs the simple question that so many comfortable people avoid... why is injustice happening? Why are people dying of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and starvation... when we have the power to do something? Why are these issues so easily overlooked? Why do we simply donate to a charitable cause and feel like we've done our part? Our part WILL NOT BE done until these kids are healthy, safe, and nourished. Until child mothers without husbands can feed themselves and their babies, and on top of that, so they can have money to continue their education and send their child to school as well. How can we claim to love Jesus and serve him and be Christians when we're not doing what the Bible so clearly states is necessary... that we are to care for the widows and the orphans-- those that have nothing.

This must be changed, and little by little... it is. Now, it must pick up speed; there is no excuse for our apathy. Hope is here, change is coming, love will win.