Written piece
Voices from the Streets
Hope Counselling Pte Ltd
Fiji
About this piece
The Poem is about the outreach counselling and mentorship Hope Counselling is providing to unfortunate and neglected children on the streets of Suva and around Fiji.
Voices from the Streets
A Poem for Fiji’s Children
At eight they walk where childhood fades,
Bare feet on roads where shadows trade
Their laughter for the weight of night,
Boys and girls with dimming light.
Lost and confused, they roam alone,
Where concrete pillows turn to stone.
Victims of hands that should have held,
Of words that bruised, of trust that felled.
Physical, sexual, mental pain
A storm that beats without refrain.
The streets teach lessons no child should know:
Violence that grows, and fears that flow.
Prison gates where hope stands trial,
Needles that steal a child’s smile.
HIV whispers. Shame takes root.
Teenage bodies sold for loot.
Promises break in pregnant teens,
Suicides silence midnight screams.
Murder steals names. Minds come undone.
And still the sun rises. Still they run.
But listen, hear it through the hurt:
A footstep firm upon the dirt.
It’s Hope Counselling, come to stand
With open heart and outstretched hand.
Not with pity, but with power,
They meet the child in the hardest hour.
“Your story isn’t written yet,”
They say. “You are not your regret.”
They speak where others turned away,
They bring the dawn to yesterday.
Mentorship becomes a bridge
From street to school, from ridge to ridge.
From “nobody” to “I belong,”
From silence to a brand new song.
You are not forgotten, Fiji’s child.
You are not broken, only exiled.
From classroom chairs and desks and books,
From gentle words and caring looks.
So rise, young warrior, dry your eyes.
The same blue sky that saw your cries
Now waits to see your name in light
No longer lost, no longer night.
You are 8, you are 17, you are seen.
You are loved, you are more than you have been.
There is a door, there is a way,
And Hope will walk with you each day.
From streets of pain to paths of grace,
We’ll help you find your rightful place.
For every child who dares to dream,
Is stronger than the world may seem.