TESS v2

AKOROMIT ANNE GRACE - aged 16 in S3 at NGORA HIGH SCHOOL

AFRICA, MY AFRICA

Africa, my Africa
Beautifully made
Wonderfully located
With enough sunshine
Favourable rainfall

Africa, my Africa
With God fearing people
With black beautiful ones
Able and gifted leaders
Africa, my Africa

Africa, my Africa
A place of beautiful scenery
A continent of peace making
Education, loving and promoting
Hardworking continent

Africa, my Africa
With brilliant and gifted people
With abundant flora and fauna
A home far away from home
Africa, my Africa

Her father works as a filing clerk at Ngora Hospital but is "a drunkard" and has two wives with nine children in all.

Her eldest brother completed his 'O' levels but could not continue and they have been struggling to pay for a sister in secondary school. Anne is a bright girl

TINO ESTHER - aged 17, in S5 at NABUMALI SS, near Mbale

TESO, MY TESO

Oh! My Teso land, how did you come into existence?
Were you born or created?
If born who was your father and mother?
If created, who was your creator?

Honour and distinction is awarded to whoever
Brought you to existence, because you are so
Wonderful and beautiful full of vegetation and wealth
You include Soroti, Kumi, Katakwi, Amuria, Kaberamaido

Wow! My Teso land how nice you are to stay in
Plenty of land and resources
Dear, I am proud of you

Unfortunately, wonderful Teso land you face
One greatest problem - political instability
Brought by terrorist such as Kony rebels.
Karamojong attacks
This has led to internally displaced persons
Poverty, poor education, poor health
We look forward to making you the best place to live

Oh God help us to develop our Teso land
For God and for my country and region Teso
Amen.

Esther is the third child of ten. Her father is paying for the eldest boy to go to Teso College, a very expensive school. Consequently, there was no money to pay fees for Esther and her older sister, who has already dropped out of school and been married off. The family have been living in camps for many years, first because of the Karimojong, but then everyone in the camp was displaced to Soroti when the LRA invaded. Her father has now returned to a camp at Obalanga and so can now do some cultivating because the "Arrow Boys" protect them. In Camp Swahili near Soroti, where the rest of them live, they eat two meals a day, but lack the basics.

AGIRO JOSEPHINE - aged 17 in S4 at BETHANY GIRLS in Soroti

THE END IS THE BEGINNING, THE BEGINNING IS THE END

Life is a relay
It begins and ends
It ends and begins
But in between is a struggle
A struggle to survive

The end is the beginning
And the beginning is the end
One ends primary education
And begins secondary education
One ends education
One begins work

The end is always the beginning
Pray to God the Almighty
To begin well and end well
I say all this
For God and my country

Josephine hasn't seen her father, a Karimojong, since he "rejected" the family five years ago and left them. Her mother lives in a rented room and works in a local "hotel" in Soroti, washing plates and cleaning. So Josephine and her siblings live with their grandmother who can't even afford to pay for school uniform for those in primary school. She suffers a lot from malaria and heartburn.