A day in the life of Christina

Sylvia and her family are one of the families featured on the WEE BOX this year. Sylvia is 41 years old and lives in a small village in DR Congo.

During DR Congo’s civil war, she was taken captive by armed soldiers and repeatedly raped. She eventually managed to escape and thanks to donations from Scotland, SCIAF is helping her to build a life for herself, her young daughter and grandchildren. She lives with her youngest daughter, Christina, who is 13 years old.

We go to sleep at 8pm and wake up at 6am.

In the morning I go to fetch water. 

I clean the house.  I wash dishes.  After that, I wash myself and go to school.

It’s a one hour walk to school from my home.  I am learning French, maths, history, English and science.  My favourite subjects are history and geography.

I start school at 8am and finish at 12.30pm. I like to study so I will be able to read and write and also speak French and English.

Every day after school, I help my mum to carry manure to the field, collect vegetables and then we come home and start cooking.

We often eat amaranth (a nutritious local plant), aubergine, cabbage, beans, and small fish. I like living around here because it is near the field we grow our food.

I have a friend who lives not far from here too and I go and play at her house.

We play skipping and we also play a game where we clap our hands and knees and the second person has to mirror what the first person does.

We have a solar panel now through the charity project, which allows me to do my homework when the sun goes down. We are very lucky.