Gaya Tereya, District 11

“people say, there is always a light
at the end of the tunnel.
if you look behind what they say,
you’ll know we are all screwed.”

Hi, I’m Gaya, I’m 13 and I’m a girl from about 160 centimeters tall. I’ve got bright, blue-green eyes, a pale skin and ginger hair. I used to wear a blue ribbon in my hair, but I bound it around the neck of my puppy.I always walk with my head slightly down, because I’m very shy.
I am rather thin and I love to wear skirts and dresses, so that is what you'll see me wearing. Like every girl, I have a favorite dress: a blue dress with a white ribbon around my waist. Nobody in my family or hardly anybody in my District wears shoes, so it seems pretty legit I don’t wear shoes, either.


People describe me as a sweet, loving girl, but I had and still have to fight for my life and the life of my family due to the hunger in my District..
I has gotten a lot tougher if you compare me now with me a few years ago. Still I’m very shy and don't talk to strangers.
I’m only comfortable with my own friends and family, but people think I’m weird, because I bury the dead and murdered children. I let my face and body language do a very big part of the talking for me. Yet if somebody says anything nasty to me or one of my siblings or friends, I lose control. I'll go swearing every word I know, which is my biggest flaw and the numer one thing I’m not proud of. Of course.
I heard from several people I’m much like a mother, even though I’m only 13. I always have the big feeling I am responcible for everybody and I have to protect them from everything. Any kind of pain, heartbreaks, illnesses, and all that. Yes, it makes my life as a kid very hard, would I trade it for any other life? Maybe. I will always be there when you need me, for anything, even the slightest thing. Everybody appreceates me for who I am. I really don't know if that's a good or a bad thing, because I do have low self-respect and I’m very insecure about myself.


Having a pale skin in District 11 is a rare thing, but a long time before the first Hunger Games took place, my great-great-great-greatgrandparents moved from District 5 to District 11 to start a living there. That is where Saran, my mom, met my dad, Miguel. Born as the 4th child of the Tereya family and being firstborn girl, I had a lot of things my older brothers Kae, Alexander and Fredrick did not have. After me, my parents had 4 more children: Rya, Lenny, Sensae and Janiqua.
Of course I love my brothers and sisters very much and I would die for them, living in one of the biggest and poorest Districts of Panem still isn’t easy. It never was, and it never will be.
Because I have such a big family, keeping everybody wellfed and healthy isn't an easy task. I do everything I can to support my mother with taking care of my younger siblings, Rya, Lenny, Sensae and Janiqua. My older brothers, Alexander, Kae and Fredrick, work on the orchards all day. Since actually nobody in this District goes to school almost everybody works on the fields most of the day, it is hard work, but I haven’t faced any big trouble comparing it with taking care of my siblings.
Of course I hope I won’t face any trouble, because it will only make things worse.
When I was 5, Alexander 12, Kae and Fredrick 11, Rya 3, Lenny 2 and Sensae and Janiqua not even born yet, my family went through a large grieving process. Both of my mothers parents, my grandparents, died and my dads brother, my uncle, was exicuted by the peacekeepers because he was seen as a "rebel", My parents never really showed that they cared for us since we turned about three, when all of this happened, they completely stopped looking at me and my brothers and sisters. Sometimes I look at my parents and think they are like the Capitol… cruel, mean and heartless. I know it’s horrible to think that way about your parents; we are their children, and they should take care of us, no matter what. Luckily my older brothers were there to take care of me, and I am here to take care of my younger siblings, I don’t want to think about how Xander must have lived a terrible life, even more terrible then the life we are living right now.
Because District 11 is in charge of Agriculture, almost every family in the neighborhood have cows or dogs. A puppy was born one day, a girl. She was given to me as a present for my 9th birthday and I named her Wynona. When Wynona was only weeks old, I got requests from several people if my Wynona please could keep their cows together. It was a great opportunity to earn money, but I didn’t want to lose my dog and switch her with any other one that was running out there. I became more than attached to the peace of clothing in my hair, but after about 11 years of wearing it, I untied it for the first time in my life, a pretty emotional thing, it was like losing a part of myself, but it was for the best. Who would want to lose their dog? So, I gave it to Wynona, so I would never lose sight of her.
As I already said, living in District 11 has never been easy, and it certainly never will get any easier.
I am really thankful for my family and my dog, they showed me the path I should walk and helped me becoming the person I am today.
I am Gaya Tereya. I am 13 years old. I live in District 11. And life hates me.