The Kenya Coalition Against Landmines (KCAL) organized a program with Nairobi schools in the lead-up to the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World, held 29 November - 3 December in Nairobi, Kenya, to help to raise awareness of the landmine issue and encourage young people to take action against mines. Activities included awareness-raising school presentations, a Nairobi-wide youth conference and Kenyan youth participation in the International Youth Symposium held during the Summit. Many young people, including 18 year-old James Rafique from Starehe Boys School, expressed their feelings about these indiscriminate weapons through writing. Below are two of James' poems.
A Sad Tale
It happened very recently,
I can vividly recall every event,
That was the day I had promised my love
A bouquet of flowers.
I had gone to the garden of beautiful flowers
To pick them for her,
The signpost was there,
Or did I think I saw it?
Yes, it was there, fallen on the ground
Covered with dust and forgotten.
I wish I could see it in a crystal way,
I never would have been telling my sad story
Not without legs and the beautiful face I once knew.
The stepping on that dreadful object
Changed my life,
I'm now useless to everyone, they show me that
It's sad that we make them to destroy ourselves.
If only the world was free from landmines.
By James Rafique
We can still hear the Echoes
The silence of love
Has turned out to be echoes of pain
The great works of our hands
Total destruction of lives
Why do we forget about peace making?
Why do make mines to imprison our happiness?
The sound of an innocent child can be heard
He has lost the hope of being a great footballer
What a wasted pillar of hope at such a young age
He would have achieved his goal if it were not
For a mistake the other man made
If only he knew it was going to shatter someone's dream
He shouldn't have put that mine in the ground.
They say let's make peace
But how can peace be achieved without love?
We are one, but we forget that
People lose hands, legs, sight, and even their lives
They are innocent, innocent, completely innocent
Let's join hands and stop this evil
Done to our people by landmines.
We can still hear the echoes
The cry of women for their lost freedom
Children sobbing from hunger
And the village shivering in fear,
Of seeing another victim
Brothers, sisters, can't we see the pain in their eyes?
I bet we do, we are all heading there
If we don't rise now!
Let's join hands
Let's give light
And instead of sharing the pain
Let's share the peace and freedom our forefathers enjoyed
It's supposed to be a peaceful world
Yes, that's what we have to make it be
A Mine-Free world.
Have a peaceful, mine-free time!
By James Rafique
