When I grow up I am going to be an air-hostess.
When the aeroplane crashes I am going to be a nurse.

Rina Smith, Grade II
Codrington School Magazine, 1959

Choices… choices.

For a young girl in Chipata in 1959,
there are few choices.
For a young girl in Chipata in 1959,
there must always be a backup plan.
For a young girl in Chipata in 1959,
there are no such things as idle hands.

How lucky I am despite it all.
How lucky we are who grew up with more
than the very worst, than the unluckiest.
How lucky to have choices more than Rina Smith.

© Blake Leitch January 31, 2017