I am appalled.
Appalled because there are children
in this world that
can't go to school,
don't have clean water,
aren't in safe places,
don't have health care,
and have had their childhood stripped from them before it even began.
These issues are among many others
that trouble our world.
A girl as young as 7
has her abilities limited to housework.
A boy as young as 9
has to quit school and start working in unsafe conditions.
I know out there,
there is a boy
who amounts to greater things than I.
but he is living in a place
where he cannot dream.
Where he cannot prosper.
Where he is told that he cannot play he wants because he needs to work.
I know out there,
there is a girl
that is told that she must not go to school.
that she must wake early to clean the house.
that she must be married at 11 years of age.
these kids have taught me,
through their stories and their perseverance,
to never take the small things you have for granted.
To cherish them.
Because you may not think anything of the small things you have.
But to a child somewhere,
it's their only desire