The real life story where you can be the hero!
Hello! My name is Nathan, and I am 13 years old.
The name of my country is Burundi. We are a FAMiLY of seven, with two girls and three boys. Our house has only five rooms. I must share the bed with my brother. We sleep on a mat. We do not have a place to put our clothes. My clothes hang above my bed on a string from one side to the other.
EACH WORD iN BLUE iS A GiFT YOU CAN GiVE A CHiLD LiKE NATHAN!
I wake up at 5:30am every morning. If I’m a bit tired I sleep a bit longer to 6:15am
When I get up, I go and collect water for the family. I have a 15 litre container that I carry. The WATER source is 10 minutes walk from my home.
When I was younger the water was very heavy to carry –now it is better.
I don’t eat in the morning. We can only eat two meals a day. I am hungry when I come back from school.
We COOK on the fire. Sometimes, when we have money, we buy food at the market like sweet potatoes and bananas, or maize to make PORRiDGE .
I cannot remember the last time I had meat.
I wash and then go to SCHOOL . My school starts at 8am until 12:45.
I enjoy learning, but I must walk 30 minutes to school and then back when it is finished.
We have no uniforms to wear. It would be nice to have a UNiFORM .
We have 58 children in my CLASS. We sit three to a bench. This makes it difficult to write and learn.
DiD YOU KNOW ... ... helping a child go to school is a gift no one can ever take away?
During the break we play soccer. We don’t have a normal SOCCER BALL . We have one that we made from rags and plastic.
When I return from school I do chores. Sometimes I help by sweeping to keep this area clean. I first see if maybe someone else did it – if not, I do it.
We all work together to keep the house and forecourt clean.
When it is done,
I play soccer with the other kids. I enjoy playing with my friends.
I do not grow any VEGETABLES. I tried, but it was too dry, and didn’t work.
We have a goat, rabbits, pigs and chickens. I collect some grass for the GOAT and the RABBiTS. I find it in the fields behind my house. We will start using the manure from the animals to grow beans.
Fl U ff Y FERTiLiSER?
Poo from Nathan’s rabbits makes FREE fertiliser, so crops produce more.
That means more food PLUS extra for essentials!
When my father built this house, I helped to make the BRiCKS. I helped to find the mud and transport it closer.
When the bricks were dry, I helped to take them closer to where we were building. It was hard work, but I was happy to help and excited that we will have this house.
We have a LATRiNE , and we also wash there.
My mother has a small BUSiNESS. She sells salt, sugar, palm oil and SOAP. She goes to the shop most weekdays on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
When we have enough livestock –like rabbits, we sell them to get money for food.
If we get sick, we can only go to the clinic if we have money.
Sometimes we can’t afford the medicine. If we don’t have money to go, I have to stay at home.
I do not like it when I am so sick with malaria.
MEET NATHAN!
Join Nathan as he goes to school, carries water and cares for his special Fluffy Fertiliser Factory!
When I grow up, I want to be a DOCTOR so that I can help my family and other people when they are sick.
If I become the chief of the village, I would like to build a clinic close in this community, so we don’t have to travel so far.
I will also bring my community clean water for drinking.
WATER. FOOD. DOCTOR.
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