Janjay

By Chantal Victoria

Janjay is an energetic, smart, and curious little girl living in the West African country of Liberia.

She is responsible for collecting clean water for the household on a regular basis, but one day finds herself distracted by afternoon fun with a friend, which causes her to neglect her chores. She later discovers the seriousness of her actions and learns a real life lesson about disobedience and the important role she plays in her family.

Through humor and the use of local language, this story brings to light the global issue of access to clean-water sanitation that resonates with millions of girls around the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9780995711112

Book preview

Author

CHAPTER 1

Scratch, cock-a-doodle-doo, scratch, scratch, cock-a-doodle-doo were the sounds coming from Peter, Mrs. Grimes’s chicken, every morning.

Even though it was only five o’ clock in the morning, Janjay could feel the moist African sun enter the window of her room. The air was still, and the heat was vibrant.

Ahhhhhh, Janjay cried as she stretched both arms across her bed.

The size of Janjay’s bed was big enough to fit her tiny eight-year-old body. Janjay’s four-year-old brother, Joe-Joe, slept in the room right next door. It had only been a few months since she stopped sharing a room with Joe-Joe. While her grandmother Ma Gladys lived in the house with the family, Janjay had been forced to share a bed with Joe-Joe. She hated waking up to his smelly toes nearly touching her face. She slept in that position rather than face to face because Joe-Joe drooled, and she could not bear to sleep on a wet pillow. They slept head to foot for two long years until Ma Gladys moved back upriver to her village. Janjay missed her grandmother but was enjoying the comfort of having her bed all to herself again.

Jannnnjayyyy, get up for school. It’s nearly six o’clock. You want to be late, ehn? Janjay’s mother called.

Janjay could hear her mother’s screeching voice from the other end of the house. She quickly dashed out of bed and ran over to the barrel of clean water in the kitchen.

Aye, man. Janjay sighed with irritation. The barrel of water is getting low again.

She stood on her tippy-toes and leaned half of her body into the rather large barrel of clean water to fill her cup, nearly losing her balance.

Her mother walked by and said, How many times do I have to tell you—when the water is nearly finished, lean the barrel, not your body. Mama sucked her teeth and said, Silly girl. One day you will fall straight into that barrel.

Janjay filled her cup with the last remaining water from the barrel. She knew this meant she would have to go to Saint Paul’s