Month: June 2023

Walking down the alley, I find myself rummaging through the bin for food. My weak, wrinkled hands scrape against the metal of the bin. I find orange peels, apple cores and a half eaten muffin. I struggle to swallow the muffin, but force it down my throat. I sigh. Another day, another struggle. I wait outside the shop. Hours pass. I chech the time inside the shop. The clock reads 3:00pm. I keep waiting. I look at thetime again. My eyes squinting at the clock, it reads 6:00pm. I walk around town. At that moment, I stumble across a large, white fountain. I scoured my pockets of my ripped pants. I find a coin and kiss it. I walk over to the fountain, my feet aching as I step on cobblestones. I don’t care. I close my eyes as I reach the fountain and toss the coin in the gleaming water. The coin plops as it sinks to the bottom. I stay there for a moment, saying a little prayer to myself. I walk back to where I stay when I hear a familiar voice. Looking back, I spot my friend. We hug each other and have a little conversation. I tell him how I am struggling. He was upset. He asked me how I would feel if I came and lived with him I said “it’s ok, I’m alright”. He insisted. I couldn’t believe it. My eyes filled with tears and I felt joy. That was when I remembered my wish for a better life.

Iorana Monsieur Jacques Chirac,

 

My name is Teva Gabilou

I come from the island of Moorea

I hope this letter finds you well.

I write to ask you whether you could stop testing nuclear bombs at Mururoa Atoll. I know it is an uninhabited island, but I think you are unaware that when you are testing your H-Bombs, the wind carries the radiation across to the other islands which affects te mau taata no te fenua iho, our men and women, especially te mau tarii, our children. The children, who were swimming in radiated waters, developed mainly skin and thyroid issues. We can’t have safe or clean drinking water when you are testing nuclear bombs. 

Please consider this and I hope you do something about your Nuclear bombing.

 

Sincerely,

Teva Gabilou

 

The sky looks very clear, the birds fighting over a piece of bread,

Seagulls squawking and flying around,

Hearing the crashes of the waves,

The splashes of the waves are nice to the ear.

 

Police Sirens.

Scared because I’m in a wooden boat,

The smoke spreading around our area.

Rocking yacht makes an attentive moan.

 

People of our country protesting.

The screams of the people

“You have no right to do this”

furious, I can’t believe this is happening.

For R.E. my class and I My advocate I chose was Martin Luther King, a civil rights activist who brought about change for black people.  He was also famous for his “I have a Dream” speech in 1963. He is a hero to African – Americans and one of my heroes.

In the weekends my dad, my sister and I went to the Cook Islands. when we got there my uncle was waiting for us outside. When we came out it was hot. My uncle drove us in his truck with me and Marii at the back on the trailer. My uncle drove us to the back of the St Mary’s Church where there were a lot of rooms and a beachhouse. We were going to stay at the beachhouse. We were greeted by my uncle and my grandma.  At night, my nephew and niece came and had pizza for dinner with us. After, we watched a movie and then went to sleep at 12:00 in the morning. The next day, we had Cook Islands doughnuts for breakfast. We went to CITC (Cook Islands Trade Centre) and saw someone getting arrested in front of us. It was scary because he stabbed someone before he ran from the police but was caught. Anyways, we went to CITC and got nails and came back. At about 4:00 my sister, my dad, my uncle and I went to to the beach and swam for an hour then kept on watching TV until 1:00 in the morning. On sunday we went to church, it was a short walk. after Mass, we had Mother’s Day lunch. They had roast pig, chicken and fish curry, with taro and raw fish. When evryone left we kept watching TV and then went around the Island. Monday was our last day. We were going to leave at 4:00. We packed evrything we had and went said goodbye to our grandma and uncle when they dropped us off at the airport. We arrived in NZ at 6:25 and was greeted by my mum and brother. We had KFC for dinner which I really missed. Going to Rarotonga was a highlight of 2023. I really loved my time there and made the most of my trip.