Life of an Informal Settlement Child

Warning: This story is 93 sentences long. Don’t fall asleep!

Dear Journal,

My name is Kibo-Chan

Today was the same as every other day. Cold, wet and boring.I’m a child that lives in a informal settlement. I have a small shack made out of metal that is freezing in the winter and boiling in the summer. I share it with my two brothers, one sister, my mom and me. You’re probably wondering “where is your father?” He was away for work in another city called Cape Town in the Western Cape. My family lives in Mpumalanga, I don’t know where because I don’t have the best education. He is a gardener there. A few months ago my family and I moved to Cape Town with my father.

My ‘house’ in Mpumalanga was a lot better than the one we have in Cape Town.

My dad did not know we were coming and he has used a lot of his money to a aéroplane to get to here. Our house is smaller than before. I have to share a mattress with my sister and my brothers have to share a another mattress as well.My parents share a single bed. I wish we never had to share our beds, I wish we have our own separate beds. We have very basic furniture like a coffee table to eat on and do homework, a stove that my dad brought with the last of his money to cook food and the mattresses and the bed. We also had a small tv but we don’t have electricity so we gave it away. We use lanterns to light up our house at night, but the batteries die and my dad has to use his money he earned from his work to get new batteries. I wish we had more money. The walls are still metal but we have a carpet on our floor so the cold doesn’t get to us but it still does.

My house would be amazing if it was fireproof and warmer than our normal house. It would be a dream come true because if everyone had a house like that everyone would be safe from fires! For example if a candle or a stove sets alight, we would be safe because if we had the houses we have now, it would spread very fast. I would really like a proper toilet and not just a hole. My great-grandma died because she fell in the hole and drowned in the- you know what. I would also like a two-story house to fit everything in, but still the size of the shack we have now. We would have a lot of space to have furniture and do everything. Like the beds could be on the top floor and the toilet and kitchen could be in the bottom floor.

Now that you know what conditions I live in it’s now time to get to my day today.

I woke up by banging of the roof. I knew the birds were up on the roof trying to annoy us. I pulled the thin blanket off my trying not to wake up anyone. I put the blanket back over my sister before going outside to our ‘kitchen’. I gazed into our small empty fridge. I had to go to school with no food, no food to keep me going through the long cold day. I really would like if I had food, but my family has not enough money for everyday food or water.

Now you think “well that’s a problem!” But that’s not all of my problems, they get worse. I stayed in my clothes from yesterday because that are my only clothes I have. I have a very risky way to get to school that my parents don’t know about because I’m scared they’ll drop me out of school. Only if I had a way not to get to school unsafely. I trotted over to the quiet street which is actually a path. Cars, fire trucks or police cars can’t come down this path so we are not safe.I peered at the dark sky. I normally wonder what time it is, but I don’t have a watch. I struggle to see but I could make out where i was going. I wish we had lampposts to light up the paths at night or in the early morning. I walked until I reached the end of the path. I turned left and I saw a small ravine. I have to jump over it every morning. It is about 90cm wide and 50 feet deep. My teacher told me that in class when I told her my way to school.I hopped over the small ravine and carried on my way. That’s not all the problems on my way to school. There are gangsters on my way to school. I normally take my brothers baseball bat for protection. I wish we had no gangsters because it would make me and other people a lot safer. I held the baseball bat in my hands strongly. This morning I saw no gangsters.

I finally saw my small prefab. I saw our big patch of grass which we play on every day. I sighed and walked over to the prefab. Only if we had a bigger classroom with less children, it would make my or others education a lot better. I put my brothers bat in my bag. Half of it was out but I did but I did not care. I walked into the class not surprised that I was first, again. I smiled, I always get the best seats because I am always first. I took a chair from the front of the classroom and placed it at the front desk. I always think that I’m the only one in my class who is going to pass the grade or even get to college because I’m one of the whole class who does their homework everyday. A few hours past while I sat and waited for everyone. I wish everyone was earlier so we can get our work finished quicker. The teacher was there a few minutes after me. Everyone walked into the room after a few hours. Now I could smell the stinky aroma of everyone. If we had showers the smell would not be so bad.A girl sat next to me. I did not know her because there are about 40 people in my class. As you know, I wish there were less people in my class.I had to share a notebook with her and the person next to her. It was really easy actually because they just talked the whole time. It was really noisy and distracting.I think I was the I was one doing the work she gave us. I wish everyone actually concentrated.

After school I walked the route I already walked that morning home.

I took the baseball bat out so I could have protection. I saw a gang fight happening but I covered my face with my jersey I had on everyday. I wish there were no gang fights. I got home and no one was there. My brothers had probably gone to play soccer realizing that their baseball bat had gone. My sister was the youngest so she probably gone with my mom to her work as a maid. When she is older she’ll have to come with me to school. Dad had gone to his work as well. They all come back late so I’m have to be left on my own. I took money that was under my mattress that I have been saving for so long. I went to the small shop around the corner and brought myself a pack of biscuits and cheese that was R30. I ate the cheese and biscuits very fast since I never had breakfast or lunch. It started to rain. Now doing my homework was going to be hard with no electricity or light. I took out my book and started to write.

Now I am here, writing in my journal. Waiting for my family to come home.

Thank you for reading this long story! Hope you did not fall asleep!