Walking On Their Knees… cause they don’t have legs
"Walking on their Knees, Cause they don't have Legs"
Women working 15 hour days
Planting seeds for the harvest
Washing clothes for their husband
A telephone boutique
Nobody they have the money to call
Nobody else with a phone
You see, we may have 2 or 3 televisions in our house
But in Cameroun, there is only 1 television for every 120 people.
Walking on their knees because they don't have legs
Who is forcing them to crawl?
What some people have and what some people don't
People in Wealthy nations:
Throw out plates filled with food
Horde money into bank accounts
Clothes into closets
Toys into attics
What's the matter?—do they lack batteries?
Or do we lack creativity—taking pleasure in consuming
Throw something in the trash when bored of it
Meanwhile, there are children born into this world with no alternatives
A life that is predetermined.
What we have:
Plastic bottles that are useless
What they have:
Plastic bottles that are drums
And how can we be so wasteful?
I wonder…
As my hangers fill with accusations
And closet drawers overflow with hypocrisy.
How can we be so wasteful?
I wonder… what it means…
That the 3 richest people in the world have more money and assets
than the poorest 48 countries.
I wonder what it would be like
As that 13 year-old boy who makes 50 cents a day selling peanuts.
To be one of those children,
Who instead of being able to go to school
has to stand and wait in line for 2 hours
Just to fill a pail with water.
And as our faucets are left running these children are dying of dehydration. (2x)
Is it REAL!
Is it something I should fight?!
Is it just another reason I should never complain…
About what I have—today——
What will I say…
When my grandchildren ask me what I did? (2x)
Is it REAL!
Is it something I should fight?!
Is it just another reason for US to never complain
About what WE have—today—
What will WE say
When OUR grandchildren ask US what we did?
What will we say… we say… do… today…
People think things but don't say anything
People say things but don't do anything
The cause of things not getting done
People say things but do not think
The cause of them being wrong
People want things but don't believe they can do it…
The cause of their failure,
Wanting other people to do it for them.
People expect things
The cause for disappointment
People expect things
The cause for disappointment
It's easier not to think.
Walking on their knees because they don't have legs.
Who is forcing us to crawl
Only when I stop eating do I know what it feels like to be full.
And to be FULL while starving means something completely different
The normal distance she would walk—a few miles—
With 40 pounds of weight on her head and 30 pounds strapped to her back
Barefoot, or with 4 year-old ripped flip-flops
She walks further than I ever get with my Nikes.
She asks me, "Does it have to be this way?
This is not the world I want to live in."
"No," I say…
We will not allow the world to continue to exist this way…
For there is hope
Another child in cloth grows
Carried by a mother's faith.
Awake —to the earth shaking—
Rejuvenate the joy of Labor
In someone else's life you will find a reason for living (1x)
In someone else's life you will find a reason for giving (2x)
Dig Deeper into the meaning…
You see, 40 % of the people in this world live without electricity.
Yet there are those of us who still complain
About rising gas prices and a little bit of street traffic.
You see…
There are people in this world who IN THIS VERY MOMENT
are dying of diarrhea…
And while someone is worried about simply staying alive
Another is only worried about what kind of car they drive
Is it REAL
Is it something we should fight?!
Is it just another reason for us to never complain
About what WE have—today
What will WE say?
When OUR grandchildren ask us what we did. (2x)
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written by HawaH
excerpted from his 1st book, Trails: Trust Before Suspicion
(published under his birth name Rajeev R. Kasat)