Will I be turned away?

If I walked through the bush,
and in chest-high water through the river,
and through more thick bush,
and I crawled under the wire
and climbed over the electric fence
to reach South Africa
If I came through the river because
I had no money for the documents, nor
to bribe officials at the border post, but
I was so desperate
Will I be turned away?

If I was attacked and
gang raped by the guma-gumas
as I made my way through the bush,
and was made to take all my clothes off
as I went through the river,
and I arrived in South Africa
with no documents
Will I be turned away?

If I seek medical help and counselling
If I cannot identify the rapists and the evidence of the rapes was washed away in the river
Will I be turned away?

If I report the rape to the police and ask that the rapists are caught, and they should be made to pay for their terrible deeds, and if I cannot identify them, and
I am regarded as illegal, and
I fear the police,
and I fear deportation, and
I fear going to the hospital,
I fear being raped again
in South Africa,
And I feel so totally alone and
Unprotected

Where do I go for help?
Ndekupi kwandinowana rubatsiro?
Nka hwetsa thuso kae?
Ndi nga wana ngafhi thuso?

This poem was written by Agnes Mahachi and Tafadzwa Chikandiwa during the Powa/CDP 16 Days of No Violence against Women Project in Musina November 2009.

View more on our special report on 16 days of activism here.