እዚኣ ካላይ ትብሃል። ካላይ ሸውዓተ ዓመት እዩ ዕድሚኣ። ብቋንቋኣ፡ ቋንቋ ሉቡኩሱ ትርጉም ናይ ስማ ‘እታ ሕያወይቲ’ ማለት እዩ።
This is Khalai. She is seven years old. Her name means ‘the good one’ in her language, Lubukusu.
ካላይ ካብ ድቃሳ ተንሲኣ ንገረብ ብርቱኻን ትዛረቦ። “በጃኻ ገረብ ብርቱኻን፡ ገዚፍ ኴንካ እሞ ዕበ ብዙሕ ዝበሰለ ፍረታት ብርቱኻን ሃበና።”
Khalai wakes up and talks to the orange tree. “Please orange tree, grow big and give us lots of ripe oranges.”
ካላይ ናብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ብእግራ ትኸይድ። ኣብ መንገዳ ንሳዕሪ ትዛረቦ። “በጃኻ ሳዕሪ፡ ልሙዕ ኴንካ ብቘል ኣይትንቀጽ ድማ።”
Khalai walks to school. On the way she talks to the grass. “Please grass, grow greener and don’t dry up.”
ካላይ ነቶም ዕምባባታት መሮር ተላግሶም። “በጃኹም ዕምባባታት፡ ፍንሽርሽር በሉ እሞ ኣብ ጸጕረይ ክሰዅዓኩም።”
Khalai passes wild flowers. “Please flowers, keep blooming so I can put you in my hair.”
ኣብ ቤት ትምህርቲ፡ ካላይ ነቲ ኣብ ማእከል ቀጽሪ ዘሎ ገረብ ትዛረቦ። “በጃኻ ገረብ፡ ዓበይቲ ጨናፍር እሞ ኣብቍል ንሕና ድማ ኣብ ትሕቲ ጽላልካ ኴና ከነንብብ።”
At school, Khalai talks to the tree in the middle of the compound. “Please tree, put out big branches so we can read under your shade.”
ካላይ ነቲ ንቤት ትምህርታ ከቢብዎ ዘሎ ሓጹር ትዛረቦ። “በጃኻ ሓያል ኩን እሞ ሕማቓት ሰባት ናብዚ ከይኣትዉ ዕገቶም።”
Khalai talks to the hedge around her school. “Please grow strong and stop bad people from coming in.”
ካላይ ካብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ናብ ቤታ ምስተመልሰት፡ ነቲ ገረብ ብርቱኻን ትበጽሖ። “ፍረታት ብርቱኻን በሲልኩም ዶ?” ኢላ ካላይ ትሓቶም።
When Khalai returns home from school, she visits the orange tree. “Are your oranges ripe yet?” asks Khalai.
“እቶም ፍረታት ብርቱኻን ጌና ጉዕ እዮም ዘለዉ፡” ኢላ ካላይ ኣዕሚቛ ኣስተንፈሰት። “ጽባሕ የራኽበና ገረብ ብርቱኻን፡” በለት ካላይ። “ምናልባት ሽዑ ዝበሰለት ፍረ ብርቱኻን ትህበኒ ግዲ ትኸውን!”
“The oranges are still green,” sighs Khalai. “I will see you tomorrow orange tree,” says Khalai. “Perhaps then you will have a ripe orange for me!”
