African Storybook
Menu
Decision
Ursula Nafula
Vusi Malindi
English
My village had many problems. We made a long line to fetch water from one tap.
We waited for food donated by others.
We locked our houses early because of thieves.
Many children dropped out of school.
Young girls worked as maids in other villages.
Young boys roamed around the village while others worked on people's farms.
When the wind blew, waste paper hung on trees and fences.
People were cut by broken glass that was thrown carelessly.
Then one day, the tap dried up and our containers were empty.
My father walked from house to house asking people to attend a village meeting.
People gathered under a big tree and listened.
My father stood up and said, "We need to work together to solve our problems."
Eight-year-old Juma, sitting on a tree trunk shouted, "I can help with cleaning up."
One woman said, "The women can join me to grow food."
Another man stood up and said, "The men will dig a well."
We all shouted with one voice, "We must change our lives." From that day we worked together to solve our problems.
You are free to download, copy, translate or adapt this story and use the illustrations as long as you attribute in the following way:
Decision
Author - Ursula Nafula
Translation - Ursula Nafula
Illustration - Vusi Malindi
Language - English
Level - First paragraphs
© African Storybook Initiative 2015
Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
Source www.africanstorybook.org
Menu
  • Navigate

    Navigate through the story by swiping right or left or clicking when the cursors changes to an arrow on the right or the left edge of the screen.

    Tap or click on the centre of the page to see, or remove the menu bars at the top and the bottom of the screen. You can also use the ESC key.

    You can use the slider at the bottom as a way to move quickly through the story. On a mobile device tap on the slider before you drag the slider button.

    Click or tap to return to African Storybook.

  • Share
    If you have a Twitter or Facebook account, you can share this story on your page or a page you manage. You can also copy the web link (URL) for this story.
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • Url
  • Rate
    Other visitors rated this story

    Tell us how much you liked the story – drag the scroller to highlight one or more stars
    • Submit
  • Comment
    Read other people’s comments on the story, or add your own.
    • Enter your comment
    • Name
    • E-mail
    • Post
  • Translations and adaptations
    • ውሣኔ
      Amharic (Translation)
    • القرار
      Arabic (Translation)
    • Gyinaeɛ
      Asante Twi (Translation)
    • Decision (Colour-in)
      English (Adaptation)
    • Decision
      English (Adaptation)
    • Anniya
      Fulfulde Mbororoore (Translation)
    • Kũgiita ĩgamba
      Kῖmῖῖrũ (Translation)
    • Ikemezo k'ingirakamaro
      Kinyarwanda (Translation)
    • Uamuzi
      Kiswahili (Original)
    • Umoja
      Kiswahili (Adaptation)
    • Uamuzi (Paka rangi)
      Kiswahili (Adaptation)
    • Okusalagho
      Lusoga (Translation)
    • Atiakun Akiroit
      Ng’aturkana (Translation)
    • Decision
      Pidgin English (Nigeria) (Translation)
    • Kunɛ́yu mɛfinɛ piconsɛ nsimɛ́
      Sola (Translation)
    • Ijogh-zwa
      Tiv (Translation)
  • Download to read
    Landscape version
  • Download to print
    Portrait (booklet) version
  • Download EPUB