A day in an informal settlement 

Hi I'm Zama  I woke up in the morning to a dark, cold and dirty shack i was really miserable  because i hardly got any sleep that night . I flopped out of bed and slowly walked to the table in the middle of the shack. I slumped down onto the squeaky chair and ate. For breakfast I had oats and a glass of milk thats what I have everyday I sometimes get sick of it. When I’d finished I packed my bag for school, I did it all by myself because mommy’s sick with H.I.V I wish that we could afford the treatment she needs. Daddy’s at work, he's a painter you know, he paints the most beautiful things. 

It always takes long to get to school, the teachers don't really mind if I’m late, although sometimes it can be a bit embarrassing,  they know it takes long to get here. When I got there I sat down at my desk that I share with sibulele we also share textbooks, and stationary and most other things. Today we are learning to do read, write and do sums like 5+7 and 8+2.

After that I had lunch, for lunch I had bread I wish we could afford other food but I know that daddy tries his best. When school finished I walked home down the long mucky river that makes me want to throw up, I almost fell in yesterday so today I am going to be very careful.

When i got home to the plastic, tin and wooden shack, I Put my bag down and sat down on my cushion and tried to read my homework. It was to hard because I couldn’t see anything in the dark. I went outside to read under the lamppost. The reading wasn't hard, my teacher says i am a good reader.

A few minutes later my mom called me to come eat dinner so I went inside. For dinner i was having chicken and 3 carrots, I wish i could’ve have more because i was really hungry tonight. After I’d finished I went to my cushion lay down and prayed, when I finished I went to sleep hungry, again.