A day in the life and home of a child in an informal settlement

When I woke up this morning it was very cold in the house. The walls of the shack were wet and damp. I got up and took a towel to clean the the walls dry. We were fortunate that the metals walls of the house didn't collapse during the storm last night. My back felt sore. Very sore. It was probably because of my bed. It was hard and not comfortable at all. There was no sheet or pillow. There was just a bed with a small, thin blanket. All the beds looked the same. While I was getting dressed, I noticed that my sister's bed was empty. Dad had gone to the doctor with her this morning. She had a bad cold. Mom was up already. I said good morning. She made me some bread with butter for breakfast that morning. Before I left, I took one more look at the small shack and set off for school. 

  

It was still raining when I was walking. I felt grateful that I had shoes on my feet when I walked past the kids that morning. Even though my shack wasn't the best shelter, I still am thanking dad for it. At times I ask myself why I have to live in a miserable shack. Where it's cold, small and uncomfortable. I feel sorry for myself sometimes. But there are things to be grateful for. On the way I had to walk past more shacks. There were many that were much worse than mine. Some of them weren't even suitable to call a shelter. The muddy ground had bits and pieces of litter. It wasn't the best site. I got to school a few minutes later. My closes were damp, but I was fine. 

 

I got into the class and it was already crowded with children. This was another day with 40 to 45 children. The teacher looked tired and not ready for another day. After all, it was hard to get the

 attention of 45 children. It was very noisy as usual, even when the teacher was speaking. Today was really boring. It wood have been better if we had books to read and things like that. It would be nice to read stories once in a while. I sat at my desk with a few another class mates. None of them had stationary. Neither did I. None of us had enough money to get the stationary.

The poring rain didn't help our teacher over the noise. It made it even noisier. Much noisier. When the rain died down we had break.  At least break was fun. My friends and I played soccer against the boys. The boys won the game. They usually do anyway. We have only won once since a few of the boys were on the girls team. Besides, the boys love soccer. You would never see them do anything else. 

When school had finished I walked back home. Now the sun was shining and the floor wasn't as muddy. I walked past a few homes and there were children playing and running around. I walked back home with my friend that day. She didn't live far away. We joked and laughed the whole way. It made me feel a lot better than I had felt that morning. When I reached the house we parted ways. I got into the shack where mom was cleaning the wet walls and floor. She looked happy too. She must have had a visitor. There was no lunch that day. I felt very hungry and miserable again. It might get better tomorrow I told my self. 

Dad came home that night very late. He had come back with my sister. Mom and I were happy to see  her. She had gone to bed early since she was sick. I felt a lot happier since my sister was back but that didn't last long. Dad had told us that there would be no supper that night. I had suddenly felt even more hungry than ever. That night I had no choice but to sleep on an empty stomach. I got into my bed and I lay uncomfortably on the hard surface. My day didn't end well after all. At least there was still tomorrow.