In the Land of Ethiopia

by Frankie R.

In the land of Ethiopia

women and children alike,

When their families want water,

they must take a six hour hike,

Once they reach their destination,

they must scoop the water into a jug,

But the water is nasty and foul,

not something you’d be proud of,

But it’s this water they must drink,

use to bathe and cook,

Even though this water

is full of bugs and muck,

And because kids are collecting water,

they can’t go to school,

Which means they can’t get an education,

Which isn’t very cool,

Even worse, the jugs for water,

Can weigh up to forty pounds,

You can imagine this is painful,

But it’s to this jug they are bound,

When I first heard this I was appalled,

I am sure that you are too,

But alas don’t worry more,

There is something you can do,

You can send some money,

as much as you can,

Recruit your friends and family,

and send it with the postman,

The money will be used,

to dig a deep, deep well,

The children can pump this water,

To end their long dry spell,

If this problem’s resolved,

there’d be less sick and dead,

more children could go to school,

and more would be well read,

If we work together,

fresh water we can provide,

with each penny that we send,

one little step at a time.