It was a certain beautiful afternoon. I was in our garden harvesting maize. Our garden is situated in a swamp called Rhaga. Rhaga is a swamp situated in Nakivale where most inhabitants are locals, and not refugees. Our garden measures two hectars, which does give us a good amount of maize whenever we harvest. We hire a lorry to come and help us carry the harvested crops. This afternoon I was very tired since we had been harvesting all morning wand the work is almost reaching the conclusion. We were resting when some boys who were working in the next garden from ours started shouting. “Snake!!! Snake!!!” All of a sudden my brothers ran to them to check what had happened. I saw a black cobra running. I felt freezing because I was so scared. It looked like the one I always see in my documentary and movies. The other guys were still yelling whereby my brothers went to hunt for it but they couldn’t find it. It never harmed anyone, but until now I’m scared of going to Rhaga again.
refugee
Memory/Self as Character
This piece of writing is designed to prompt students to practice the writing fundamental to “show and not tell.” We all love a good character—someone who is complex yet relatable, full of all the human foibles we are aware of and who may act differently from what we could ever anticipate. For this piece of writing, students attempt to write a kind of self-portrait and/or to draw on a specific memory and re-create it vividly. Students were encouraged to draw on their senses and attempt to include dialogue in an attempt to illustrate, or demonstrate the relevance of the memory without summarizing why it matters. Students were instructed to use a “device” to help them to move through personality traits, interesting qualities, or amusing actions to form a narrative that lets the reader see them at their best and their worst. Students were given the following prompts to chose from: 1) Something, someone, some place that you loved, have loved, or hate or have hated? 2) Something (a person or experience) that changed you
The Displaced
Once upon a time, from a wounded land My family was pushed to leave our homeland I was asked to pluck, all my courage in one bag Will we ever be back to my mother’s soil? For the last time, I hugged the air deeply I held to my heart the smiles of most loved friends My friends! Will I ever see them again? I am sending my warmest greeting to all of them From the day I was born, formed of blood For nine months in the womb of my mum I was not told I would leave my home one day Who knows of the next day, of our fate? I was not taught to fight But as a displaced one I had to learn How to stay strong against all odds. What was not given to me in life Is to find the truth on my own way To separate goodness from badness And ask those who’ve experienced both I am displaced, my sisters too Like my ancestors, decades ago I am displaced, like a migratory bird Like blossoms of spring after a strong wind I am displaced, like shells washed on the shore Like fallen golden leaves in the fall I am displaced with my memories With my soul and my mind I escaped, leaving the war behind But my resilience is strong: to use my voice And sketch a new world with my words Displacement is not a symbol A label exclusive for the “brown”, the “black”, the other ones Displacement is color blind, It’s not a name, shall not be a shame It is not to live in fear Is not to live in jail with violence You can not draw the curtain, To the realities once you see the truth Don’t stay deaf or blind, open your eyes! Thousands of us are left behind. But we are not to stay silent, We’ll go ahead with closed fists and open minds! The day, when everyone will be free Like tides on an ocean Or, rays of sunshines on an iceberg We will make it! The day, that freedom won’t be a dream, We will aim for it! Those who lost their lives in the sea We won’t forget them! Those who wait behind barbed wires! We won’t forget them! With those who have been in the front line We will raise the sails of freedom… I am committed to that struggle!. For no one is free, until we are!
