National Adult Literacy Database

October 8, 2012

This week, we have a poem written by Liliane Biti, from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Liliane is originally from the Congo, where she was a jewellery designer, working with gold and diamonds. She came to Canada in 2007 with her husband and son.  She is enrolled in literacy classes at an Adult Education Centre in Winnipeg, and she has also taken classes in French with Pluri-elles (Manitoba).

Africa

by Liliane Biti

Africa, Africa, Africa
That shines with blue sky
The great blue mountains
Where tourists come to see
Congo, the land I used to be.

Africa, Africa, Africa
A battleground
The garbage for war
Blood is spilled on the land where I was born
I cry for Congo
The land I used to be.

Africa, Africa, Africa
I miss my land Congo where my parents still live
I miss my family
No one is safe
I am now safe in Canada
I remember my land Congo
I used to be there.

To read more stories from Manitoba, please click on this link - http://manitobaliteracy.com/write-on-magazine-2/write-on-magazine/ -  which goes to Write On!, Fall 2011, the Literacy Partners of Manitoba (LPM) magazine.