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ውሳነ
Decision
Ursula Nafula
Vusi Malindi
Daniel Berhane Habte
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ኣብ ዓድና ብዙሕ ጸገማት ኔሩ። ማይ ካብ ሓንቲ ቡምባ ክንቀድሕ ነዊሕ መስርዕ ንገብር ኔርና።
My village had many problems.
We made a long line to fetch water from one tap.
ብኻልኦት ዝተወፈየ መግቢ ንጽበይ ኔርና።
We waited for food donated by others.
ብምኽንያት ሰረቕቲ ኣባይትና ብኣግኡ ንስግጦ።
We locked our houses early because of thieves.
ብዙሓት ቆልዑ ካብ ትምህርቲ በዂሮም።
Many children dropped out of school.
ንኣሽቱ ኣዋልድ ኣብ ካልእ ዓዲ ከደምቲ ኮይነን ሰርሓ።
Young girls worked as maids in other villages.
ንኣሽቱ ኣወዳት ኣብ’ቲ ዓዲ ናብዝን ናብትን ዘወን ክብሉ ይውዕሉ ነበሩ ገሊኦም ድማ ኣብ ናይ ካልኦት ሰባት ሕርሻ ይሰርሑ ነበሩ።
Young boys roamed around the village while others worked on people’s farms.
ንፋስ ክነፍስ ከሎ፡ ወረቓቕቲ ጓሓፍ ኣብ ኣግራብን ሓጹራትን ይንጥልጠል።
When the wind blew, waste paper hung on trees and fences.
ሰባት ብሸለልትነት ብዝተደርበዩ ስብርባር ጠራሙዝ ይጥብሑ ነበሩ።
People were cut by broken glass that was thrown carelessly.
ሽዑ ሓደ መዓልቲ፡ እታ ቡምባ ነቒጻ መትሓዚ ማይ ፊስቶታትና ጥራዩ ተረፈ።
Then one day, the tap dried up and our containers were empty.
ኣቦይ ካብ ገዛ ናብ ገዛ እናኸደ ኵሎም ሰባት ኣብ ናይ ዓዲ ኣኼባ ንኽሳተፉ ሓተቶም።
My father walked from house to house asking people to attend a village meeting.
ህዝቢ ኣብ ትሕቲ ሓደ ዓቢ ኦም ተኣኪቡ ክሰምዕ ጀመረ።
People gathered under a big tree and listened.
ኣቦይ ሓፍ ኢሉ፡ “ጸገማትና ንምፍታሕ ብሓባር ክንሰርሕ ኣለና።” በለ።
My father stood up and said, “We need to work together to solve our problems.”
ሸሞንተ ዓመት ዝዕድሚኡ ጁማ፡ ኣብ ጕንዲ ናይ’ቲ ገረብ ኮፍ ኢሉ፡ “ኣነ ኣብ ምጽራይ ክሕግዝ እኽእል እየ።” ኢሉ ጨደረ።
Eight-year-old Juma, sitting on a tree trunk shouted, “I can help with cleaning up.”
ሓንቲ ሰበይቲ፡ “ኣትን ኣንስቲ ንዕነ ሓቢርና እኽሊ ነብቍል።” በለት።
One woman said, “The women can join me to grow food.”
ካልእ ሰብኣይ ሓፍ ኢሉ፡ “ሰብኡት ዒላ ኽንኵዕት ኢና።” በለ።
Another man stood up and said, “The men will dig a well.”
ኵልና ብሓደ ድምጺ፡ “ህይወትና ኽንቅይር ኣለና።” ክንብል ጨደርና። ካብ’ታ መዓልቲ ኣትሒዝና ጸገማትና ንምፍታሕ ኵልና ብሓባር ሰራሕና።
We all shouted with one voice, “We must change our lives.”
From that day we worked together to solve our problems.
Written by: Ursula Nafula
Illustrated by: Vusi Malindi
Translated by: Daniel Berhane Habte
