This poem is to help create awareness around the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign (25 Nov - 10 Dec ‘23).

By Nokubonga Mbanga

She wakes up every morning to the sounds of nature
She wakes up to the clear skies and is ready to seize the day
She also wakes up to the dark fear of being seized by those
who see her as their caregiver
She is a rural girl, not your one-choice
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She wakes up every day full of hope for a better story
She wakes up happy, dancing to the movement of flowers
She also wakes up to her real fear of being exchanged for skinny cows
She is a full human being, not your one-choice

She wakes up ready to fulfil her promise of chasing her better story
She is also brutally woken up from nightmares of abduction
The screams of her abducted sisters remind her that her life is not hers,
but of a stranger that she never chose
She is the bride of her future, not your one-choice

She wakes up ready to write her exams,
the gateway to a better world full of choices
She also wakes up to the cruel whispers,
reminding her that she will only be ripe to be someone’s choice
She is a Pathfinder, not your one-choice

She is trained to be a bride before she can spell her name
She is trained to be “chosen” before she can learn the freedom of choice
She learns to be someone’s caretaker before she can learn to care of herself
She is her parents’ poverty alleviation project
Is she not enough to have better options?

She is my sister
She is my daughter
Her future is not barren – she is her choices
And she is her Options and not your one-choice