Tchad
To the country of both darkness and light
To a country I both despise yet am fascinated by
To you,
tchad
The definers would call you a “failed state”
They would call you corrupt. They would rank you abysmally on the human development index. They would project that your chances for economic growth are dismal based on civil war, governmental mismanagement, ethnic diversity, lack of infrastructure
You are a footnote
You barely make your appearance in literature
Or in any scholarly journals of note
When you are mentioned, it is to prove a point. A point about poverty, a point about the third world. a point about what happens when everything collapses
Your story can be found in fragments
Your citizens work too hard to have the energy to hold a pen
You listen to the music of Cameroon
You will probably never leave your country
You are being killed by malaria
You are being killed by AIDS
Your people are starving
Your peace is fragile
Your leader is corrupt
Your women are beaten
Your men are despondent
Your economy is not growing
To you
tchad
To you I say change is possible
To you I say growth is reachable
To you I say education is attainable
Because of you
you
you – who walk five miles to school every day
you - who take a pay cut to work here in a mission hospital
you – who ran here with your child so it could live
you – who get up before dawn to gather sticks to sell in the market
you – who help out your neighbor in his hour of need
you – who demonstrate the triumph of the human spirit
you - who get up every day anyway
you - who spend every waking moment finding food for your children anyway
you - who never stop wishing, who guard your fragile dreams with resilience
you - who layed your first child in the ground, but fight for the others anyway
to you
tchad
To you - who want to be equal
To you - who want a chance
To you - who want to be treated with dignity
May you find your voice
And may someone listen
May you find your strength
And start to build
May you hold onto hope
And let it grow
May you work for peace
And turn to reason
May you go to school
And fight for knowledge
And to you,
May you not just write a check
But may you come here
May you not close your eyes
But may you look squarely at us
May you not just forget
But may you strive to remember
May you use your talents
Use your education
Use your resources
Use your time
Use your heart
Use your courage to take the hard road
Use your mind to create the right solutions -
To help build a better tchad
May you not forget us
May you come here
And see for yourselves
May you help us
To help ourselves
Because we do not need money
We need infrastructure
We do not need hand outs
We need education
We do not need NGO’s
We need empowerment
We do not need sympathy
We need micro-finance
We do not need a check
We need your time
But most of all
We need you to know
Because maybe
If you know
you cannot claim ignorance
ignorance is the opiate of the conscience
may you have the courage to know
that here,
people are starving
that here,
children are dying of treatable illnesses
that here,
almost everyone has lost more than one child
that here,
there is no clean water
that here,
there is no gender equality
that here,
women have no rights
that here,
is extreme poverty
that here,
is the will to survive
so when you go to bed tonight
may you have the courage
not to forget us
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