The ManicaPost
Delight Mwamuka
Growing up, I’ve always been taught on my rights.
At times we would even sing rhymes about those rights.
Little did l see their importance.
Indeed, it was fine singing with the others.
Until reality struck.
Food, shelter, education, life, are among some of the rights.
Some kids are actually going to bed on empty stomachs.
Waking up to the anxieties of food scarcity.
In the trash cans they dig and in the streets they beg because the value of food they realise.
In this cold weather, they shiver in the streets all clumped up as they gather all the cloths they can.
Shelter has never been a reality for them.
They wonder how sleeping under a roof feels like because the streets have become their daily enclosure.
They wonder how it feels like to wear a school uniform.
To them, the dream to go to school is far-fetched.
How they wish they could be like others.
They are deprived of education.
They don’t get to choose what to eat or what to wear because whatever is thrown their way they have to take.
Stones find a way to glorify themselves into gems.
We undermine what we have.
Only if we could realise that these rights are blessings that being delivered to us on daily basis.
Never overlook violations of a right.
If you can make a difference, don’t hesitate, make it happen.
But with rights come great responsibility.
Your rights are someone else’s responsibilities.
Likewise, take the initiative to also be responsible for those whose rights fall within your reach.
Mwamuka Delight is a Form 3 student at St Dominic’s High School
