Dear Wise Men:
I hope you are well. This year I have thought of some gifts for Africa. Although I know there are many, I would like you to try with all your might. Well, I won’t go on any further, you will have many more letters to read. For this year I ask you:
-An XXL size peace, unisex and universal, to distribute wherever you go. If you have any packages left over, leave them in Sudan, which has been at war for many months now.
-Microphones, cameras and a lot of freedom of expression for African journalists. I’m sorry to tell you that this year you will have to leave eight fewer gifts. Until mid-December, that was the number of colleagues who had died in Africa in the exercise of their profession.
-Hospitals, dispensaries, doctors, nurses, medications, ambulances… A lot of everything.
-Schools, institutes, teachers, blackboards, chalk, books, notebooks, pens… Lots and lots of schools, institutes, teachers, teachers, blackboards, chalk, books, notebooks, pens…
-Water. Drinkable and accessible water for those who are thirsty, for those whose animals and crops are thirsty. I am not asking you for bottles of water of those that ministers put in their meetings, because that enriches a few – and that is of no use to the impoverished. I ask you for tap water, but for everyone.
-Meal. Meal. Meal. You know… what I’m going to tell you. Meal.
-Freedom for girls and women to walk smiling through the streets, to study without being discriminated against, to work as they want and in whatever they want. That, freedom.
-A retirement in time for leaders who have tired of governing, but who cling to power. (Dear Kings, with all the things our grandparents do, I don’t know how those politicians don’t want to retire!!).
I know there are many things and I leave without asking for many more!!! If you can’t do everything, bring a huge box of justice. I think this way we could start fixing almost everything else as well. By the way, don’t worry about the cookies, the glass of milk and the water for the camels, I’ll take care of it.
In the image above, a school in southern Ghana. Photography: Javier Sánchez Salcedo
