TRYING TIMES ( Poetry)

TRYING TIMES

I am confuse!
In distress, all doors are close
The balcony of my strength got loose
I am in constant distress
My joy, agony transgress.

Sadness deface my face
Lonely in this race
All seems to be dark, the next stage
No crony around to be trace.

Poverty puts me in distress
My happiness, it transgress
My thoughts all branded senseless
Struggling alone, I am helpless
Are my people clueless?

Tomorrow, nobody can forecast
Why should I be outcast?
Is the society changing so fast?

Poverty is a nature
That I never wished to nurture
Because in it, there's no pleasure
And my life needs a treasure.


I am equally a human, your partner
Not like a worm and a flower
But like a sister and a brother
Embrace me and stop giving me a trauma.

Cogitate, tomorrow I can behest
Vagaries of life, do not be aghast..
My life seems to be in gloomy
Tomorrow, it can change, this is not funny.

 If today is  Monday
Tomorrow will be Tuesday
Nothing stays forever
And never say never!

I am living in poverty
Outcast in the society
Agony deface my face
When will I be in felicity? Having value in the society?


Written by:
©ML DRAMMEH CSAY
#YWAG
#THELIGHT

Call for Application ( Gambian Literature ANTHOLOGY 2018-2019)

The Drumbeats of The Gambia for Gambian literature ANTHOLOGY 2018 - 2019 (to publish all young Gambian writers' in an anthology, + more)

Deadline: November 30th, 2018

The Young Writers' Association of The Gambia ( YWAG) is seeking for poems, short stories, and articles that resonate, reverbrate and reflect Gambian literature, arts, and culture. The subjects of taboo are widely explored in this ANTHOLOGY to defining us as a people. The emerging Gambian authors of this generation are not afraid to go further afield for the literary fodder.

YWAG under the dynamic leadership of Kebba Mamburay ( Chairperson) and Lala Touray ( Vice President) aim at empowering young Gambian writers of Gambian citizenship who lacked some successes in their work as aspiring writers. The Call is open to both published and unpublished young writers' living in and outside The Gambia.


The writers can be living anywhere in the world- but must be a Gambian citizen by birth and must be willing to be a MEMBER of The Young Writers' Association of The Gambia ( YWAG).  In honor of the YWAG’s vision of promoting Gambian literature and celebrating its 7th Year Anniversary on January 7  2019,  upcoming writers of genuine talent will be honored at the National Writers' Festival and the Night of Spoken Word 2019. The Night of Spoken Word will feature a public lecture, an award ceremony and outstanding performances from The Gambia's best and emerging poets and spoken words artists. THE DRUMBEATS OF THE GAMBIA aim to promote and support Gambian literature, writing and publishing by young people. This ANTHOLOGY will be donated to the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education ( MoBSE), The Gambia National Library, the US Embassy Banjul, UNESCO, The University of The Gambia ( UTG),  various junior and secondary schools in The Gambia,  public and private libraries in the world.

ABOUT THE ANTHOLOGY:

* Will be available in all online stores,  libraries and bookshops.
* Will be launched by the Online Launch Team
* Include a Video Trailer
* Reviews
* Copyright and Royalties are owned by the authors and the publishers
* Will feature renowned young writers of The Gambia
* Book Website and Media Outreach



Eligibility

1. Submissions will only be accepted from young Gambian citizens home and abroad.

2. All entries should be an original work of the authors and never to have been published anywhere in any form.


3. Writers should be aged between 15-35 years old at the time of submission to this Anthology.

4. The Anthology accepts entries for fiction and non-fiction of the genre: prose and poetry ONLY.

5.  Each writer will be allowed to enter a maximum of one (1) poem or a short story per author.

6. The submissions should depitch Gambian culture and tradition

7. The poems should be themed-based and must not be more than 20 lines; articles should be less thab 1000 words, and the short stories must not be more than 1000 words.

8. Strictly note that the Call will be closed when we receive 25 submissions. So it's first come first serve.

Each entry will be required to be accompanied by:


* A Short Biography of  the author of about 50-100 words exactly.

* Send along with Proofs of Ownership of the WORK ( i.e, ID copy, passport, a snapshot of the handwritten manuscript, etc)

Please see the plan for the ANTHOLOGY:

Application

(Please click on the link below to summit your application online )


www.ebrimasawaneh.com/survey

TO SAVE GAMBIA, BARROW ADMINISTRATION HAS TO BE AWARE OF CHINA'S 'DEBT TRAP DIPLOMCAY'.

"Nothing is required, and nothing will avail, but a little clear thinking".- John Maynard Keyness

It's crucial to note that there's no permanent friend in international relations, but permanent interest.
China has a dream; the elusive quest for the greatest untapped market on earth- this dream has maintained extraordinary potency in the expense of "developing countries".
The China dream is too resilient, and the "developing world" determination to see it come true too great.

President Barrow has to use his position as a moral fulcrum to understand that, the Chinese can milk even an ant to get a liquid, and that they're eyeing our fish resource and other deliverables to turn their dream into a reality. And given us loans that we can not service, so as to strangle our economy.
Our fish resource is getting depleted every waking minute by the Chinese investors. The Gambia has high rate of unemployment. Unemployment Rate in Gambia increased to 9.50 percent in 2017 from 9.40 percent in 2016. It's high time for the Gambia government to stop China's scramble for our resources, and invest in this fishing sector to create employment for the youth and boast our economy.

The idea of Chain's 'debt trap diplomacy' is giving alluring loans to developing countries, when these countries ossify to pay then they demand concession.
Zambia has provided a shining example recently, they defaulted on a couple of loans, and apparently lost the Zambia's Power Utility (zesco) and Zambia's broadcasting corporation to China. By all indications, Zambia is becoming the Chinese property and colony. Heaven forbid! This is a prime lesson for the Barrow Administration.

The news of Gambia's strengthened bilateral relation with The People's Republic of China has raised fundamental issues. What is the Gambia's bargaining power in term of comparative advantage? It's important to note that, like farmers quest for agricultural productivity, Chinese investors press unending forward to be the largest economy in the world, as any means necessary.

To raise the economic positions of Gambians, President Barrow must be inclined to believe that, as a sovereign state we must depend on what we can do. So we can distance our great nation from China's 'debt trap diplomacy'.
This is not to say that we don’t need help, but help coming from outside is secondary. We must primarily depend on ourselves for our survival.

As the Socialist Proponent Hon. Sedia Jatta, said, “We have fresh water in the country, which can be used 12 months of the year, so we should think about what we should do to change our agriculture, not only rain fed, but means to make it all year around agriculture".
The Gambia needs a strategic plan to get the agriculture and fishing sector booming. The survival of our great nation hunches on the agriculture and fishing sector, and not loans from China or any outside power.

Kwameh Nkrumah sums it up: The less developed world will not become developed through the goodwill or generosity of the developed powers. It can only become developed through a struggle against the external forces which have a vested interest in keeping it underdeveloped.

By, Buba S. Njie
Political Science student.