In honor of 26 June, 2020, the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, CVT Ethiopia-Tigray held a poetry contest. We are proud to share these three winning poems this year.

CVT

By: Tesfalem Sahile

CVT organization is our partner, a real partner

People let’s go to the concerned organization

There is an organization called CVT

It is always open without saying holidays.

It always there opening its services day and night

It is saying let’s stand together to stop rape,

It is saying call to me, when there is a rape,

It is saying let’s fight against rape,

It is saying let’s fight against violence, before it founds its roots

It is saying let’s listen and approach CVT before it constructs its house.

It is saying let’s collaborate without wasting time,

It is saying just report, counselling is open.

It has a support to provide with you,

Its counselling is interesting,

Just approach CVT, don’t pass ignoring it

Just visit CVT, and taste its counselling.

It is saying welcome, opening its doors and time for you,

Counselling is always there, CVT welcomes you.

It is saying release your heavy stones

Approach it, ask it, and line up under its umbrella.

CVT is saying ‘help your selves’, it has something to provide for you

It is welcoming you opening its doors, to provide you its counselling

It is saying ‘help your selves’, opening its doors day and night.

It lightens the difficult one, it approaches the withdrawn one

Let’s go together to benefit from counselling

Just ask it, approach it in order to believe

It is saying let’s gain, do not lose.

Let’s go it’s good to stay with CVT

Brothers, sisters it’s too bad to be alone

Let’s go it’s good with CVT,

Let’s go, let’s go!

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Man for a Man

By Mihretab F.

Things are unfair in this world.

A broken promise in the course of trust

Violence with torture and scars of pain

There is a lot of story in this mysterious world

When a man is at some better position

Tends to use the other man, and

Stares at, to oppress what the other possess

Man’s behavior is difficult to explain

Man laughs while the other cries

A man is hungry while the other eats

Does man forgets the common death

Man who distributes distress to threaten your mind

Who pays the costs of torture through slavery

Who causes anxiety, to lose your mentality

A man who conspires many things to spoil a man.

If he would get the chance to own the sun

Man might blame the earth for hurting a man

Or might push and through the earth to the grounds not to stand strong

Oh, Man! Who multiplies, adds, subtracts itself.

After seeing many things be it be good for me

Who cares about others’ pain

A man who judges a man by his position

Who is to provide justice for those who are hurt

Man teaches, changes a man

A man can activate the spoiled mind

Man tricks a man, and buries him in the ground

A man can do whatever he/she wants for a man.

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JUST LEARN FROM HIM

By Guesh Fishale

He steps into migration while he was still a child

He started his journey leaving his families

And, he started his journey at the very night

Without knowing where his destinations be

He steps ahead, without knowing his direction

And, while he still doesn’t have a friend to accompany

Thus, he became stressed alone from time to time.

He was too young to balance on his thoughts

He experiences torture, rape and become helpless

He started to worry and cry alone

He lost his cognitions as result of psychological distress

Due to lack of sleep, he becomes calm less

And, despairs about the taste of life.

What to report? For he has been through too much

Challenges and difficulties!

But afterwards

He steps to learn at CVT

After many ups and downs

To get hope and taste of life

He starts to balance on his thoughts,

Became very satisfied by what he learnt

And, considering all that he comes through

He says thank you loudly.

For He learns from CVT that…

how to untie the tied rope

How to feed the hungry belly,

How to satisfy the thirsty throat

And, how to heal the tortured life.                             Yes of course! Know what you do not know

and ask which you don’t understand

About what CVT does . . .

And tell to your friends,

Spread it and tell to everyone.