Shelby Craig

Termites for Dinner

It was early morning, and the sun stabbed at my tired eyes when I rose out of

bed to gather the morning water and food. The pail was cold and hard on my head

when I carefully walked to the stream, other weathered children like myself walking

with me, our scabbed feet walking carefully along the current wasteland where we

reside. This was my favorite part of the day, to wake up and realize that I had made

it through the night; but also to go down to the creek, where the sun rose with me

to give us the gift of life and beauty. The sun rays beamed across the stream,

disguising the waters murky-brownness and built a mask of brightly colored yellows,

oranges, reds, and pinks around the stream; making it look beautiful and full of

wonder. The sight of wonderful colors brought my dry lips to curl into a smile,

showing my worn and missing teeth to the other children; and it would probably be

the only show of emotion each of us sees all day.

The pail grows more heavy and demanding in my hand, so I reach down to

take some of the precious golden water out of the stream and into my bucket, but

just as I thought; as soon as the innocent dear water touched my cold and rusty

pail, it immediately turned into the plain brown murky spring water I have been

drinking all my life. I look to the boy beside me whose face was once hopeful, but he

realized the same thing as me. We’re too poor to have dreams of the perfect, fresh,

cold water. But as always, together we fill our pails to the top and carefully put the

pails on top of our itchy lice-filled heads, cautious not to breathe too deeply, for

every drop of water spilt could be a breath of our sisters and brothers lost as they

slept.

Shelby Craig

I have to hurry, my older brother will be waiting with our breakfast; the

thought of those few termites make my stomach growl loudly and angrily. I think

hopefully at the face of my older brothers’ proud face when he realizes what

accomplishes I have made; but then I remember his dry eyes fill up in tears as he

sees that he can do no more than a couple termites per person in my family, and I

can only do a bucket full of water. But as I look out onto the sun now rising steadily

into the sky, and feel the warmth on my skin, I think; this is my life, whether I like it

or not.” This is an example of a struggling little boy of Zimbabwe, just another country in an

overlooked part of Africa; but also one out of the 53 countries in Africa that are corrupt by a specific

leader and is in poverty. Poverty, by definition, means the state or condition of having little or no

money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor. But children in these countries answer the

definition of poverty with a titled head, for they do not know that they are actually the ones currently

defining poverty. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die

quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of

the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”

The answer to the problem of deficiency lies in the letters A for acknowledge, W for working, and finally

A for accomplishment.

A is for acknowledge. Acknowledge is the first step in bringing poverty to an end because it tells

and provides everyone with information about children and adults in poverty, and how they can help.

Not many people know that struggling countries in Africa are forced to live only on contaminated water

and they eat termites that build nests around their villages. If we made people really think about whom

the cause is for and if we could make people trust that cause, we could change the world. People these

current days are doing a great job of acknowledging the problem of poverty, such as TV commercials,

sponsoring children, and also fundraising for sister schools, or churches in the African communities. But

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the problem with the types of organizations these days is that a lot of people don’t trust them, and for

good reason, a lot of organizations are faux; and they take people’s money for their own selfish reasons.

But for the youth of Canada, we should be responsible for making sure that our country is not known for

selfishness, but selflessness. If we acknowledge that the people of Canada can do the right thing by the

people in poverty, citizens can do the right thing as well. “Our greatest strength as human race is our

ability to acknowledge our differences, our greatest weakness is our failure to accept them” –Judith

Henderson.

W is for working. It should be self-explanatory, but for educational purposes it will be explained.

Taking action is a very important part for the people in Africa who are dying by the thousands every day

by different causes such as starvation, diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. Taking action

includes activities like fundraisers, like many schools in Alberta and other provinces have been doing;

such as the 30hr Famine, and donating money for the purposes they care about. We humans can

sometimes be cruel and irrational, but we can also be very, very noble-mainly teenagers. Teens do

probably the best work because the main thing we care about is thinking that people our age are in

poverty scenes and are not getting the things we have, even if they do deserve them. When adults think

of this, many of them think of ways that they can spin it to help themselves, and they don’t feel a very

emotional or personal connection to it like teenagers do. When people set their minds to an idea, and

work together, we can do anything. Like that radio/TV commercial; all five fingers are 40 times stronger

than just your one little index finger.

A is for accomplishment. This is the goal that we have to get to, in order for the people in Africa to be

saved and to have hope for a better life. For this to happen, the people of Canada must go through steps

A and W, but this step is the most important. This step includes continually checking up on the people

that Canadians have grown to help, but also making sure that the living, water, and food conditions

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maintain satisfactory. Unfortunately, many of these countries, as said before, are being corrupted by a

political leader or a leader of some other kind; and Canadians can’t do much of anything to help that.

But we can give the people of Africa and other countries controlled by poverty enough supplies that

they gain hope, and strength, which will hopefully turn to courage. This courage could change the way

people live in those nations, and later bring a new definition to Africa than just another ‘poverty

country’. Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or

accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence,

and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing. –Thomas Edison

“By the time I made it back home, the sun was already high in the sky and its

heat was beating down ferociously on me as the pail on my head seemed to get

heavier every few steps I took. Tsetse flies buzzed loudly around my ears and eyes,

some daring to land for a few moments of rest on my dry cheeks, but flew

carelessly as I brushed my hand hurriedly over my face; careful not to not over my

now warm pail.

As I expected, my older brother had beaten my home and was feeding

our younger siblings very large termites, which they took hungrily and

wholeheartedly. I looked at the grateful smile of my brother as he saw that I had

been gracious with the amount of water I willingly put in the bucket that was still on

my head, and my chest swelled with pride as I laid the pail carefully beside his feet.

Before he could say anything to me, there was a sound I had never heard before,

but it was read on my brother’s face that he had.

My brother ran quickly down the street to meet a very large white metal box

on four circles that was moving towards us. For a second I couldn’t breathe,

imagining the horrible things that could reside in that box; but my brother still had a

Shelby Craig

bright smile plastered on to his face. A man came out of the box and opened the

back of the square, which help many cardboard boxes. My brother’s smile was

contagious and I smile at the man who carried a box to us, then had it opened with

a knife. He was speaking a language I didn’t understand, but I knew he was trying

to help us by the comforting tone in his voice.

My brother later told me that this man had brought us a box filled with

clothes, shoes, and fresh water bottles (?). He then patted me on the back, and his

shoulders relaxed, like all the worries were over; at which point I let myself relax

and allowed this gift to be taken graciously.” In the Global Death Toll information, 88% of

these deaths happened in Africa’s poverty countries. Canada has been a fervour country with keeping

protecting the youth and population of Africa in high goals. The key to this goal is three simple letters: A

W A. With these letters, we could change the way African’s live, and change the way Canadians take

their lives for granted.