If I would be a beggar then I would be saying
Yes I have seen you grin at me as I ate food from the dust bin.
I have seen your look of disgust and even hear you say yuck.
To you, I am like litter thrown in the dust bin.
But have you thought about why I live on the streets?
Why the street is my classroom?
Think about it.
I survive on begging, waving motorists into parking areas, washing cars.
Once upon a time I had a name, my own name.
Now me and my friends have the same name- street kids.
I was abused by my parents and relatives.
HIV/Aids left me defenseless against the world.
Poverty, drought, floods, neglect led me to the streets.
Life has left me nowhere else to go.
I have friends on the streets.
We have lots of things we share.
Hunger, fear, lack of shelter, sleeping in cardboard boxes.
I long for a warm, clean bed, warm food.
I long for you to laugh with me, not at me.
But who will lift me off the streets?
Remember, I am tomorrow’s leader.
I, who have learned about life from the streets.
And have become streetwise.
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