Nigerian diaries










Nigeria’s humid weather made me feel like I was stuck in a sauna. My clothes clung to my skin and my mouth felt like cotton. I waited to get my car repaired with my driver busy helping the mechanic nearby the market road and I was looking for some decent air conditioned restaurant nearby.

Abruptly I noticed a little girl with darkly-tanned skin that framed a frail figure. Her physique did not match those of the Nigerian people who bustled in the nearby markets. Her filthy clothes barely fit and her feet were bare, but what caught my attention were her eyes—dark, desperate eyes that cried for help. She cupped her hands and let out a dead groan, begging for money. For a good minute, I stared at her; after all, I had never seen a young beggar before.She groaned again. I dropped some coins into her hand—it would probably buy her a small loaf of bread. As the coins fell with a clink into her hands, her face illuminated and her desperate eyes twinkled.

I smiled. Then suddenly, the little girl turned and called out to somebody. I noticed a similar girl turn around. My heart ached. One five-year-old girl was holding an infant, whom looked too famished to have the energy to cry. I gave them some more Naira, their faces were all delighted, even though I knew the money could only buy a decent meal for them.

Meanwhile I continued to my destination, leaving the girls behind. I stared at the ground all the way to the restaurant, deep in thought, picturing myself in their shoes. I imagined myself leaving my family who could not afford my necessities. Like an unwanted alien, I would spend my days begging for food and money, weak from long periods of starvation. I would have no place to sleep, stay warm, and feel safe.

When I returned to my comfortable home in Kerala-India, I couldn’t help feeling grateful that I am growing up in India. I can go to school, be whatever I want to be in the future.

Every time I see children who are less fortunate, I recall those girls. I make sure I spare a thought for them, so I am constantly reminded of my goal to help the millions in poverty and starvation.
 If I could make the world a better place, I would eliminate poverty. Poverty encompasses the live of almost half the children in the world. The young girl’s desperate eyes were etched in my memory. It shattered my heart, but it awakened my need to help the people in poverty. 




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