Lyrics ‘BREAK THE CHAIN’ of Human Trafficking

© Copyright Joint UN Programme on Human Trafficking (Zambia) 2008

The consequence of our doing nothing means that millions will continue to have their basic human rights violated.

Lusaka, 1 August 2008

Raicho

Beautiful and full of life
Everyone knew she was born to make it
From no where someone offered to turn her life around abroad
When she got there it was a different story
Is anybody hearing me out there?
Let us not wait until it’s too late

Slap D (Nyanja)

If you’re like me, you’d like to be like John
And want to buy a big house and a double-sim phone
You’ve looked around and around for job opportunities
But take it easy and stick to your priorities

A girl I know met this guy
And I remembered Red Linso (eye) – Daddy de dade
Who made a deal to take her overseas
When she got there the changed and she was exploited

After a while, she tried to run away
But she was found, severely beaten
And enslaved again
She was forced back into prostitution
And told that that was her job

And as I speak to now
She’s in bad condition because of a disease
Guys and girls, this could happen to you
So just be careful who you trust

Cactus (English)

I know a beautiful girl she’s very nice
But she’s nothing but a pimp’s paradise
She tried to escapes strife and start another life
So that her family can say that
She went and caught a flight
Her uncle told her everything was going to be all right
But as soon as they arrived he violated her rights
And he sold her into slavery; O lord he sold her into slavery

Big city life
It looks so nice with all its pretty lights
And in the night it comes to life
And make the world seem like it’s not a place that ain’t got strife
The glamour, glitter disguising every day life
So don’t be hypnotized, be wise
And hear me say we have to break the chain of human trafficking
No, not everything is what it seems
Be careful who you believe
My people don’t be deceived

Leo Muntu (Bemba)

Where there’s something that seems sweet
There could also be something bitter [not all that glitters is gold]
Don’t trust just any stranger
Who promises to improve your situation
There are people
Who manipulate and deceive
And will abandon you in the middle of no where [in the wilderness]
They’ll say things to mislead you
Don’t look at their lofty promises
They are scavengers (crows) and crooks
They’re no good,
They won’t build you up, they only tear you down [destroy you],
They don’t build you up; they only tear you down

The world is great, my friend
But people never ask for nothing, there is always something attached to something
So don’t fall in with a blind eye or a deaf ear, oh no

Ozzy (Nyanja/Nsenga)

Stop----
There’s this guy I know
The whole neighbourhood knows him
He only drives Benzos and Bimers,
Yet no one knew what he does for a living
He’s always with loads of different girls
Older ones and even very young ones
We found out that he’s a dealer
A trader in humans, yeah he deals in people

Stop--- trafficking people, stop exploiting people

Break the chain, break the chain, break the chain, break the chain

You need to stop--- trafficking people, you need stop exploiting people

Break the chain, break the chain, break the chain, break the chain

Tommy D (Nyanja)

Don’t come around here
Looking for my kids

I’ve been warned about the way you think and act
Coming round here
Casually flashing your money

Hoping we’ll ask you to ‘drop’ some
Or you come driving around in your benzolo or offer a lift in your 4x4
Why, cause human trafficking is your goal

Keep your money, keep your phone,
Keep your benzo and your Bimer
Leave me and my kids alone
Cause I’ll never let anyone sell my baby

Crisis

May-day, may-day
We got a big problem that’s spreading world wide like a crack epidemic
A brother kills another brother I don’t even get it
A brother kills another brother I don’t even get it

It’s the new form of slavery
In order to fight this we need some strong brothers and some bravery

My friends brother went missing
The chef said the last place he’d seen them hanging out
Was in the kitchen

He was playing with his new friend John
By the time they realised the boy was long gone
Him and thirty others they were packed in one truck
No time for lunch the journey seemed non-stop

The girls, they were screaming nobody heard their plight,
They were touched in the wrong places
Raped in the night,
And some died on the way
It was kinda like ‘Amistad’ how their bodies got thrown away
And finally when they arrived in Brazil
They were turned into prostitutes, so they got killed

Made to work all day with little or no pay
Made to work all day with little or no pay

Sheko (English)

Be careful who you trust
Things are no always what they seem
You better beware
There are those who will seduce you, misuse you