Day 19: Theresa Nyalony Gatwang
South Sudan, Uganda
“I love writing, especially poetry, and I feel it’s the best way to give back to communities who have done so much for me. Looking into the current pandemic, I see so many people who are disconnected from their workplaces and even homes. There is a surge in domestic violence, and writing is my way to address these challenges. I write plays, poems, short stories, articles, and document daily life. So I decided that at least once a week, I would address a challenge or two so that my community would be aware of what’s happening.”
CORONAVIRUS PANIC
The sadness in your body,
All your cells were dying,
Lungs, kidneys, and hurt heart.
I then saw it written in all media platforms
CORONAVIRUS!!
-It kills!!
-It’s not airborne
It was the topic of daily life
Prevent CORONAVIRUS by
-Eating vitamin C
-Washing one’s hands
-Sanitizing one’s property
-Covering your: mouth, nose, eyes
-Stay home!
That’s easy to do and undo
But where is the water? Food?
For us the refugees, internally displaced persons and immigrants
The virus was another ingredient to our suffering.
I decided to be a diener
The person who works in the cemetery
At least there was vitamin D
The sadness I now feel it too
The sadness in your voice,
Having known you to be the lion you are,
I knew without a word the worst happened.
My panic button was hit.
I was darkened in thought
All I knew were bugs and cockroaches that I fought
Hereby warmingly welcoming the gust I self-taught
The sadness in your face
I became the feast for the eyes because I was the next victim
The world was surely ending in my head
The strongest countries were down:
China, America, United Kingdom
The sound of war was good because of camps.
The sadness in your eyes
I looked like a kitten surrounded by hungry African dogs.
Have you ever been scared in your life??
I absconded with my life in so many diseases ( Ebola, leprosy)
I became an internally displaced person in my own ancestral land
Sold for slave trade.
But I was strong as a rock
I knew one day justice would prevail.
But for now may God’s will prevail.
PEACE BUILDER BIOGRAPHY
Theresa Nyalony is an author of the Faithbook. She is a blogger, feminist, spoken word poet, and a co-founder of the Aljama watch a school newspaper at Juba University. Theresa is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in medicine. She is from South Sudan, but she currently volunteers for street kids and refugees in Uganda. Theresa has worked for YARID – a refugee-led network and civil society organization in Uganda and South Sudan. She was a member of the global peace leadership conference in 2018.
DAILY PEACE ACTION
Young African Refugees for Integral Development (YARID) empowers refugees and orphans around Africa to overcome deprivation and vulnerability to become healthy, educated, self-sustaining, and contributing members of society. To learn more about YARID’s programs, visit their website.