If I had a well - Laura Martinez 2ºAR

If I had...

          If I had a well I wouldn´t have to walk and walk under the blazing sun to get water for my family. My name is Kayla, I’m eleven years old and I live in Zambia. I wake up every morning to get water for my family, and then I have to take care of my brothers and make the food since my mother is selling bracelets, rings and necklaces in the market.

          I have no education; I most do the housework. Sometimes the money that my mother earns isn´t enough for the whole family to eat. Also I have no father but if I had one I am sure that he would get me to school , and I would learn a lot and when I would grow up I would be the best sales person of my city , or what is more , maybe I would be the president of the country! But I know it won´t happen

          Two times a week I have to visit my aunt, she´s very sick, she has AIDS, so she can´t go outside the home because people would discriminate against her.

          One day a colorful letter arrived to my house. It called my attention a lot because not many letters arrive to my house, nervously I opened it but, at that moment I remembered that I didn´t know how to read. Quickly I went to the ancient men in the village and he read it to me.

It said:

-UNICEF

-Dear Kayla, we are from a children´s organization and we have found a family who wants to sponsor you, they are the family Peña Gomez and they are from Spain.

They want to help you and give you money to make better your life.

If you agree please send us back the letter.

With the letter there was a picture of a smiley family. They looked so happy. There was an old man with his wife and two pairs of mothers and fathers with their children.

          That afternoon I told that news to my mother and she got very happy. At the next day we sent back the letter. Since that month all the months money arrived to us from that family.

          In that summer the family visited us, and that was the best summer of my life. They performed our house and then went back to Spain.

          Then I started to go to school with the money of the family because my grandma came to take care of my brothers. I was learning lots of things and I was so happy. One of the things that I learned was to write and read, and since then I have written every months to the Peña Gomez family. They got so proud of me and also wrote to me.

Some afternoons I helped my mother in the market and I did it very well. All my life was great except… my aunt was still so sick. And one day, she died.

It hurt me but with the time I overcame it. Though time I started to work and I didn´t need the Peña Gomez family´s money. I lived happy with my family.