From: ibshambat@gmail.com   
      
   Biography of Leticia Nyerere   
      
   INTRODUCTION   
      
   The crying queen of Africa!   
   How long had it been thus?   
   You, that were queen of Africa,   
   With face down into dust!   
      
   To come from rags, to excellence,   
   And then brought down again:   
   Your kindness and intelligence   
   Shackled with loss and pain!   
      
   Passed between many powers   
   And torn by them to shreds -   
   They all sought to devour you,   
   And then they sought you dead -   
      
   How could you be so exquisite,   
   So gentle and so kind,   
   When you are nearly destitute   
   And pained in heart and mind?   
      
   Surrounded by sorrow,   
   You kept the light alive -   
   And on each passing morrow   
   You rose, and toiled, and strived!   
      
   And yet remained benificent,   
   And generous, and warm,   
   And looked simply magnificent   
   Through sunlight and through storm!   
      
   And now you’re in the Parliament,   
   You’ve triumphed over all –   
   In Tanzanian government   
   Instilling mind and soul!   
      
   Triumphant queen of Africa!   
   Inspiring to the world!   
   You are again in Africa -   
   Now let your voice be heard.   
      
      
   CHILDHOOD   
      
   In Africa, in Africa,   
   On Tanzanian soil,   
   Was born the queen of Africa   
   In heat and rain and toil.   
      
   The parents taught her from the start   
   To be ready for life   
   Be self-sufficient, strong and smart   
   And when the time arrived   
      
   From Africa, from Africa   
   On double-engine plane   
   She went - a girl from Africa -   
   To a great northern land.   
      
   She felt lost, but the Russians   
   Were friendly to her, and   
   They asked a lot of questions   
   Till she could understand   
      
   That they wanted to know   
   Her and her world, as such:   
   And they were giving, though   
   They said word "nyet" too much.   
      
   She met folks from all over   
   The third and second worlds,   
   From everywhere and nowhere   
   Men, women, boys and girls,   
      
   She studied many languages   
   And sciences and arts   
   Her natural intelligence   
   Combined with people smarts   
      
   Made her a youthful favorite   
   Within the second world   
   And she became warm, elegant   
   And happy as a bird.   
      
   Russia's supposed poverty   
   Was for her giant wealth:   
   She had possessed no property   
   But all her needs were met   
      
   She studied subjects rigorously   
   All things to understand   
   And lived life fully, vigorously,   
   And gathered many friends.   
      
   She gained not only knowledge   
   But strength and wisdom too   
   And after going to college   
   She became dream come true.   
      
   SINGLE LIFE IN TANZANIA   
      
   To Africa, to Africa   
   From Russia she arrived.   
   She went back home to Africa   
   And started her new life.   
      
   In Dar-Es-Salaam she began   
   A secretarial business   
   And grew in name and capital -   
   And still, and nonetheless,   
      
   Remained kind, warm and elegant   
   And pleasant to behold -   
   And how is this relevant?   
   Learn once the story's told.   
      
   The son of a great president   
   Nyerere, no one less,   
   Became her client and he spent   
   Much money in the press.   
      
   And then he asked to marry her   
   And she said to him, yes.   
   They married in great ceremony   
   And all thought they were blessed.   
      
      
   MARRIED LIFE IN TANZANIA   
      
   In Africa, in Africa   
   Nyerere's son and her   
   Became the talk of Africa   
   And traveled all the world.   
      
   Nyerere loved Leticia   
   He knew that she was smart   
   He saw her mind, ambition, and   
   A girl of his own heart:   
      
   And when she had her infant,   
   Julius she named him.   
   Two more came out, few years apart -   
   She still was fit and trim.   
      
   She started woman's magazine   
   That still sells far and wide -   
   She sought to serve and yet to win:   
   All that was on her mind -   
      
   Beloved in-law she remained,   
   Africa's jet set queen,   
   Flying to China, Russia, Spain   
   And places unforeseen.   
      
   And yet the queen was crying   
   Both outside and within:   
   The people were not satisfied   
   No matter what she did,   
      
   However much she tried to please   
   It never was enough.   
   Oh how could this have come to be?   
   Why did this happen? How?   
      
   She looked outside, folks walking by,   
   And saw love in their eyes -   
   Where was the love in her own life?   
   Why all this darkness? Why?   
      
   She tried all things, mistakenly,   
   And nothing ever worked;   
   Whatever she gave, was taken, and   
   Expected of her more   
      
   Her mind was cluttered with debris   
   And arguments and pain;   
   She never had a day of peace   
   And so was going insane;   
      
   She gave and gave, and strove, and yet   
   Nobody gave respect;   
   Despair, guilt, fear and regret   
   Were screaming in her head;   
      
   Nothing would work; nothing was right;   
   In pain the queen would cry   
   Whatever she did, still worse it got -   
   She did not know why.   
      
   For thirteen years this went forth -   
   No matter how she tried,   
   The agony kept getting worse   
   And sorrow multiplied:   
      
   “Is this my life?” thought crying queen   
   “This, what life has in store?”   
   She who began a magazine   
   And business, and still more?   
      
   She wanted peace of heart and thought   
   To focus on her kids;   
   She sought to be what she was taught   
   And to do real deeds;   
      
   “Is this my life – entirely –   
   Is this the end for me?”   
   Fly, crying queen, across the sea   
   And then you can be free!   
      
   After much agony and fear   
   At last she did decide   
   To get her kids and disappear   
   In middle of the night   
      
   Three months before the President died,   
   Leticia challenged Fates   
   And took a plane, kids at her side,   
   To the United States.   
      
   LIFE IN UNITED STATES   
      
   From Africa, from Africa   
   Arrives the fallen queen   
   Carrying warmth of Africa   
   Still looking like a dream   
      
   But now she must herself survive   
   And for her kids provide.   
   She must learn how to stay alive   
   And keep them at her side.   
      
   She works as an accountant;   
   There’s insufficient pay.   
   She works then for the government   
   To serve and to protect.   
      
   The children mix with druggies,   
   She changes neighborhoods   
   She toils, and cleans, and struggles   
   Like no one knew she could.   
      
   She wakes, four in the morning,   
   Comes home late at night   
   And then she works from home   
   Struggling just to survive   
      
   It’s do all this each coming day   
   Simply to make ends meet,   
   Or lose everything that she has   
   And wind up on the streets.   
      
   Nobody thinks she is a queen   
   But she knows: She must strive   
   To do all for herself and kids   
   And struggle to survive.   
      
   She starts organization   
   To help Tanzanian kids.   
   She works on reputation   
   Mid races, peoples, creeds,   
      
   The wolf's maw of survival   
   Is breathing down her neck -   
   Thus greet the new arrival   
   Who's fallen off the track.   
      
   Thus treat the fallen beauty?   
   How far? How long? How true?   
   Who was the undisputed   
   Princess, and brilliant too?   
      
   Survival, unforgiving,   
   Is screaming in her face:   
   Now go and make a living   
   Or be destroyed, erased -   
      
   She answers, I am working,   
   Now leave my kids alone!   
   All come, at her heart jerking,   
   Desiring her undone,   
      
   Her mother dies, and when she leaves   
   For Africa, the friends   
   And family meet her and kids   
   And help her understand   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)