I want to be a pilot

"I want to be a pilot". Una de las mejores, y más duras, voice in off que he escuchado. Ese es el título de un poema y de un corto que refleja la realidad de los niños de Nairobi. Para esa película se entrevistaron a 50 niños huérfanos de la escuela Raila y su historia se condensó en el poema. En la película se ve el típico día de uno de esos niños: Omondi. Da la casualidad de que este verano, probablemente, vaya a Nairobi. Qué realidad tan distinta de la que ven aquellos que visitan Kenya para ir de safari...

I want to be a pilot

My name is Omondi
It means that when I was born
I woke up my mother
early in the morning.

I am twelve years old.
I live in Kibera
the biggest slum in East Africa.

My last meal
was on Sunday
today is Wednesday

I want to be a pilot
to fly very high,
far away from the ghetto

to a place
where kids have parents
that don’t die of HIV
everyday

to a place far away
where guardians of orphan kids
cannot abuse us
everyday

to a place far away
where goats eat
things other than trash
to a place far away
where I am treated
as well as white people are.

I want to be a pilot
to wear a uniform
and fly very high

to a place far away
where I don’t need
charity from distant lands

to a place far away
where white men in white coats
cannot test medicines on us

to a place far away
where the leaders we elected
stop filling their pockets
and start caring for us

to a place far away
where there are lots of school books
so one day

I can fly
far away.

I want to be a pilot.
It must feel so good
to go places

where I can walk barefoot
on the green grass

where water is clean
with rivers and springs

where I can feel the sun
shining on me.

It must feel so good

to fly far away
to a place where I don’t have
to dig through garbage
for metal scraps to sell

to a place where I have clothes to wear
when it’s cold and wet

to a place that when it rains
it doesn’t smell so bad.

I want to be a pilot.
So I can fly very
very high

to take off
and land
where my dreams are

to a place far away
where God just loves me
and churches are just

the mountains
the trees
the rivers

Yes

My dream is to fly far away
to a place
where my suffering can end.

I want to be a pilot
to wear a uniform
to go places

where others are not afraid
to play with me
because I am HIV positive

where I can lead a simple life
where I can eat at least once a day
where there is a future.

I want to be a pilot
so I can fly
to a place far away
where my mum and dad are

so they can hug me
so they can kiss me
so they can love me

so I can hug them
so I can kiss them
so I can love them

thank you

Diego Quemada-Diez, Kibera 2004