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Friends of Tanzanian OrphansKassimuSiraji Students Waiting for Scholarships |
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One Orphan's Story(as told to Zenan)My name is Kassimu. I'm fourteen years old. I live with my grandmother and my older sister. Both my parents are dead. Grandma Bibi isn't very healthy because she has diabetes. She wants me to get a job like my sister. I worked for a family last year, but they never paid me, so I quit. Now I go to school. My friend Zenan gave me a school uniform and told me to study hard. I want to finish first and second grade in one year. The neighbors don't like me because I steal food, like mangoes, potatoes, and corn from their fields. But if I don't, I have no breakfast. I also catch birds. Early in the morning, I watch the electric wires. Sometimes birds fly into the wires and fall down, and I can collect them. Other times I catch birds with my slingshot. On lucky days, I bring food home to Grandma. On bad luck days, she wishes I didn't spend time at school. This was my "fortune day." I got a job making bricks on Saturday. See the wooden frame? I put clay into the frame to shape the brick. I made the rows of bricks behind me. The boss paid me cash. I try to make money on the weekend, so I can go to school all week. Postscripts:
A year later, Kassimu is now in third grade. He no longer lives with his grandmother, but has built a little room above Zenan's storage shed. Three years later, Kassimu finished elementary school, and earned enough money to buy land to start his own farm. |
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