Bad news! My brothers were discovered stealing the weapons. They were caught and shot on the spot. Also, they went to the homes of each of my brothers and ransacked the whole place. They discovered all the weapons that they hid all over their house. Then they arrested everyone in the house and brought them to the big white house over there to be locked up. I passed by the white house one day, and I heard a terrible scream coming from it. I hope that the white-skins do not torture them.
It seems that each day, hope of revolution turns weaker and weaker. More and more people are submitting to the white-skins, and everyone is losing hope of us having a chance of driving away those white-skin aliens.
I guess there is nothing more we can do. I do not want to lose more family, or even my own life.
JOY!!! I heard from my 2nd brother that we are holding revolution soon! We are slowly building up on modern weapons such as guns. I hope the white-skins do not find us stealing from them. I seriously hope for their rule to end, I cannot stand even another day under them! No more spears and shields, this time, we use their technology against them! Even while writing this, my hands tremble in anticipation. I heard about how our cousins in Ethiopia beat the white-skins east from here. We natives are strong and tough; we can definitely drive those aliens away!
Just yesterday, the white-skin master came again. This time, he brought more people with him. He said that they would be helping me in growing the rubber, and that they, like me, will be paid. I wanted to tell him that I got tricked by a white-skin businessman who sold me 1 pound of rice for 10 pounds. Now I have no money, and I need more. Yet, I dare not, for he will beat me.
When I asked helpers where they came from, I was shocked. They said they were actually not paid much, they were actually slaves. Furthermore, I was expected to feed them too! The money I have now is barely enough for my family, and now I must feed 10 more mouths. How am I supposed to??? Also, I heard that they were forced to become slaves as they refused to give up their land. I’m glad that I didn’t refuse the white-skins when they asked me to. I do not want to become a slave.
Also, I heard about how the white-skins trick people. I must be more cautious.
What do those white-skins think they are doing???
Today, one whole group of them came over with a piece of paper saying that our farm belongs to them. Our family has owned and used this piece of land for more than a hundred years, and why does it belong to the white-skins now? They say we must have a tie..tie..title deed. I don’t even know what that is!
They forced me and my sons to burn all the corn in our fields. ALL. What will we eat if all our food is gone? I had no choice but to obey them, or else they would shoot me, just like my 3rd uncle. They shot him when he refused to burn his land! Who they think they are? The land which our family depended on for more than a hundred years, gone in a simple blaze.
Not just that, after burning down the fields, we were ordered to plant these… rubber seeds. We don’t even know how to grow these weird rubber seeds! Also, we were the ’caretakers’ for the land, working for one of the white-skins (they all look the same to me, I can’t tell the difference). Then, he ordered us to grow the trees, and then he would send someone to teach us to harvest the plant sap. Also, he gave me some pieces of crinkly paper. It seems tougher than usual paper, and there is a picture of a woman on it. It says… Pounds… What’s that? What are we going to do when we have no food in the store to eat? We don’t know how to use the pieces of paper the white-skin gave us. Who would want to exchange corn for pieces of crinkly paper anyway?
Yet, there is nothing we can do. I’m afraid that if I say no, I will get shot, and then my whole family will break up too. I don’t want my wife and daughters turned into prostitutes!
Ever since the huge battle, wave after waves of white-skins have entered our village, bringing along a lot of equipment and metal. Locals are pulled off the street to do labor and build houses after houses. At first, we all thought that this was for us to live in. We were wrong. Each house was as huge as a palace, and was built with a material as hard as stone. In each house lives a family of white-skins. Also, I learnt what those legendary sticks the white-skins used were. They were called guns. They can shoot things from a very far distance, just like a bow.
The Europeans seem to want to rule the place, but we are the natives. We should own the place. Why are they doing this to us???
Who exactly is this Samaori Ture? Have anyone of you heard of him? Yes, the short person with a huge mustache and short hair. He is our new chief and he is prosecuting people just because they do not listen to him. I heard from him today that the whites-skins are coming in a matter of weeks, and we are supposed to fight them till the end. Why should I listen to this new chief of mine? What makes him think that we will respect him given such a short time and adhere to his orders? We will not do what he want us to do! We are not dogs, we are humans. No, there should not be fighting and we will all ignore the chief’s instructions, no matter how many of us he prosecutes.
Apparently, everybody around me is afraid of death and one by one, we joined his army. We are known as the Camouflage and we are trained only to strike at night as that is the only advantage we have over the white man. The white-skins are a formidable lot. They have huge heavy sticks which will give a blast and then screams of agony will be heard from a comrade. I turn around, and see him lying on the floor, lifeless. My chief told me not to care about him and continue to charge at the whites, with our homemade sticks and stones. I ran towards the white men with all my energy and from the periphery of my eyes, I noticed that one by one, my fellow countrymen fell and stumbled towards the ground. I was afraid of all the white-skins and thus I fell to the ground, pretending to be dead.
That is how I survived the ferocity of the white-skins.