BY LOUREEN ALMA
Next year, is the slogan
Na sisi tukangoja
Like children waiting for rain
with cracked lips and dusty uniforms,
holding dreams in plastic bags
because hope ndiyo kitu pekee haijataxiwa bado.
Kosawo High School
a building that has mastered the art of promises
more than the art of teaching.
For years
cement has been sleeping
iron sheets rusting like forgotten apologies
while leaders arrive with microphones
to perform groundbreaking ceremonies
on the same ground
that was already broken long ago.
Every year ni launch.
Every year ni speech.
Every year ni “almost complete.”
Lakini students bado wanatembea mbali
looking for classrooms
while this school stands there
like a paused future.
And now another man rises
claiming to be part of the board
wearing confidence like a borrowed suit
telling us again,
“it will open next year.” Next year?
We are tired of eating calendars for breakfast
Tumechoka kufeediwa dates instead of desks
Because “next year” is becoming a cemetery
where dreams are buried alive.
You think frustration is noise?
Frustration is watching walls remain half-built
while politicians finish full mansions
Frustration is hearing ribbons being prepared
for schools that don’t even have doors yet
Frustration is students growing older
faster than the project itself.
And the painful part?
They speak of education as a right
while treating Kosawo like a side quest.
How many times should citizens clap
for unfinished work?
How many times should hope wear uniforms
without classrooms?
How many times should parents explain to children
why the school near home
looks more like abandoned politics
than a center of learning?
This is not just about bricks
This is about stolen time
Stolen opportunities
Stolen futures
Because every delayed classroom
creates another delayed doctor,
another delayed teacher,
another delayed generation.
So no, we do not want another launch promise
We do not want another “coming soon.”
We do not want another speech decorated with lies
and sprayed with fake optimism
We want action louder than campaign convoys
We want workers on site, not excuses on microphones
We want Kosawo High School completed
before another “next year” comes knocking
with empty hands again
Because the community is no longer waiting in patience
We are waiting in anger.
CHANGING THE MINDSET
LOUREEN ALMA
