Trapped In East St. Louis

I have lived in East St. Louis since I was born which makes sense because people don’t normally move here or move out of here. Every morning I wake up to the smell of sewage and old garbage. I go around waking up my brothers and sisters in the morning and getting them ready to go to school since my mom is never really around and none of us really know who are fathers are. This is normally not very easy considering most of them get little sleep throughout the night because of the gun shots from outside. We have no other way of getting to school except for walking. The only reason we decide to go to school is because that is the only place we can get a meal. Boredom is the only option I have when not in school because playing outside is a very big risk. There is no were for me to go because I can’t get out of this place. Every day I feel like my life is in jeopardy because of the crime that goes on in this city. You never know when the next random gun fire will happen or what shady person of the street might try and kidnap you The weekends are rough because we get little food to eat and there isn’t really much to do here. All I have every known is what life is like in the bubble of East St. Louis. I hear about what other places in the world are like and how great some kids have it but it almost seems like it can’t be true. I mean if other places in this country have it so great than how can my country sit and let just us suffer. I feel like they look at us like a bunch of animals and just don’t care about us. The whole world has just cut itself off from us and pretends that we are not here.

Like I said earlier school is not one of my top priorities. Going to school is just another way for me to feel a little less hungry. When I go to school I normally just sit around and do nothing. I learned how to read and write from the old books they have laying around are school but I am still not what some would call well educated. Our school can’t afford textbooks or high more teachers so there isn’t much more we can really do in a classroom. There is no way for the teachers to educate us because there is too many kids in one class and it just gets to out of control. I don’t really have the option of getting a good education because it isn’t really possible. I know my only way of escaping this place is through a better education but sadly I can’t get that. I want to become a more intelligent person because I know it will help make my future better. I want to be better educated and I want to get out of here but I just can’t. I know I am just going to end up like everyone else I see on the streets every day selling drugs or doing them, but I don’t want that to happen. It kills me on the inside to know that I have no chance in life at becoming successful. My only hope is for someone on the outside to help me out and make so I can get a good education and become successful. But I know that will never happen.