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መንደሬ ብዙ ችግር ነበረባት። ውሃ ከቦኖ ለመቅዳት ረጅም ሰልፍ እንሰለፍ ነበር።
My village had many problems.
We made a long line to fetch water from one tap.
Kijiji changu kilikuwa na matatizo mengi. Tulipanga foleni ndefu tukisubiri kuchota maji kutoka mfereji mmoja.
በሌሎች ሰዎች የሚሰጠንን ምግብ እንጠብቅ ነበር።
We waited for food donated by others.
Tulisubiri kupokea msaada wa chakula.
ሌባ ፍራቻ ቤቶቻችንን በጊዜ እንዘጋ ነበር።
We locked our houses early because of thieves.
Tulifunga nyumba zetu mapema kwasababu ya wizi.
ብዙ ልጆች ትምህርታቸውን ያቋርጡ ነበር።
Many children dropped out of school.
Watoto wengi waliacha shule.
ወጣት ሴቶች በሌሎች መንደሮች ውስጥ በሰራተኝነት ያገለግሉ ነበር።
Young girls worked as maids in other villages.
Wasichana wadogo walifanya kazi za nyumbani kwenye vijiji vingine.
ግማሾቹ ወንዶች ልጆች በየሰፈሩ እየዞሩ ሲውሉ፤ ሌሎቹ ደግሞ በሰው ማሳ ላይ ያገለግሉ ነበር።
Young boys roamed around the village while others worked on people’s farms.
Wavulana wadogo waliranda randa kijijini na wengine walifanya kazi kwenye mashamba ya watu.
ነፋስ በነፈሰ ቁጥር ቆሻሻ ወረቀት በየአጥሩና በየዛፉ ላይ ይንጠለጠል ነበር።
When the wind blew, waste paper hung on trees and fences.
Upepo ulipovuma, ulipeperusha karatasi chafu na kuzifikisha mitini na uani.
ሰዎችን በጥንቃቄ ጉድለት የተጣለ ብርጭቆ ይቆርጣቸው ነበር።
People were cut by broken glass that was thrown carelessly.
Watu walikatwa na vipande vya chupa vilivyotupwa ovyo ovyo.
አንድ ቀን ውሃው ቆመና የውሃ መያዣዎቻችን ባዶ ቀሩ።
Then one day, the tap dried up and our containers were empty.
Halafu siku moja, mfereji wa maji ulikauka na mitungi yetu ikawa mitupu.
አባቴ ሰዎች በመንደር ስብሰባ ላይ እንዲገኙ ለመቀስቀስ ከቤት ቤት ዞረ።
My father walked from house to house asking people to attend a village meeting.
Baba yangu alitembea nyumba hadi nyumba akiwaomba watu kuhudhuria mkutano wa kijiji.
ሰዎች ከአንድ ትልቅ ዛፍ ስር ተቀምጠው ያዳምጡ ጀመር።
People gathered under a big tree and listened.
Watu walikusanyika chini ya mti mkubwa na kusikiliza.
አባቴ ተነስቶ ‹‹እነዚህን ችግሮቻችንን ለመፍታት በጋራ መስራት ይኖርብናል›› አለ።
My father stood up and said, “We need to work together to solve our problems.”
Baba yangu alisimama na kusema, “Tunahitaji kusaidiana kutatua matatizo yetu.”
ግንድ ላይ የተቀመጠው የስምንት ዓመቱ ዓመቱ ጁማ ‹‹እኔ በማጽዳት እረዳለሁ›› ሲል ተናገረ።
Eight-year-old Juma, sitting on a tree trunk shouted, “I can help with cleaning up.”
Juma, mtoto wa miaka minane aliyekuwa amekaa kwenye tawi la mti, alisema kwa sauti, “Naweza kusaidia na usafi.”
አንዲት ሴትዮም ‹‹ሴቶቹ ከኔ ጋር እህል መዝራት ላይ መሰማራት ይችላሉ›› አሉ።
One woman said, “The women can join me to grow food.”
Mwanamke mmoja alisema, “Sisi wanawake tunaweza kuungana na kulima.”
ሌላ ሰውዬ ተነሳና ‹‹እኛ ወንዶቹ ጉድጓድ መቆፈር እንችላለን›› አለ።
Another man stood up and said, “The men will dig a well.”
Mwanamume mwingine alisimama na kusema, “Wanaume watachimba kisima cha maji.”
ሁላችንም በአንድ ድምጽ ‹‹ህይወታችንን መቀየር ይኖርብናል›› በማለት ጮህን። ከዚያች ቀን ጀምረን ችግሮቻችንን ለመፍታት አብረን እንሰራ ጀመር።
We all shouted with one voice, “We must change our lives.”
From that day we worked together to solve our problems.
Sote tulisema kwa sauti moja, “Lazima tubadilishe maisha yetu.” Tangu siku hiyo, tulifanya kazi pamoja kutatua shida zetu.
Written by: Ursula Nafula
Illustrated by: Vusi Malindi
Translated by: Mezemir Girma
Read by: Abenezer Chane
