Julia

Hi! My name is Nymal Kuwala. I am 13 years old. I have 2 sisters and a father. My mother died from the bullet in her stomach. I live in Omdurman, Sudan. I live in a small shelter around the size of a normal living room. My father sells the very little crops we own to make money.



I get up at 7:00 Sudan time. I tiptoe to the down this trail lake and take a little drink and fill my bucket. I go back to my home and prepare breakfast. I have porridge. Porridge is everything because it is so cheap.



In the midday, lunch isn’t an option for me because there is not enough food. I will sell with my dad for 4-5 hours a day, rain or shine. We do make some money, but it’s not much. Soon I hope that this war is over and that we will have enough money to eat lunch and travel around the world.



We make about 10 pounds a day, which is about 1.50 US dollars. After selling, it is usually around 4:00. I work on the crops for one hour, and my studies for another. My dad found old schoolbooks in a dumpster, so he took them and gave them to me.



Guess what I have for supper! Porridge. Like I said, porridge is everything. We sit down at our small table and say our prayers and lock our doors. Starving people could barge in at any moment and steal our food.



First, I brush my teeth in the lake. It’s dirty, but my teeth would be dirtier if I didn’t have it. Then I slip on my nightgown, the only other clothes I have. I fall asleep looking at the little hole in our roof seeing the stars.