They hire footballers specifically to play football

I heard it again today, the same old story about RDC hiring people just to play football. Clock in, play football, go home. We say it with a laugh, but there's no surprise left in our voices anymore. It's just how things are done here, another open secret we all know but can't change. Meanwhile, we're updating our phones, watching our words, knowing someone might be watching back. They took those women's phones after the protest, and we all got the message without anyone saying it aloud. Be careful what you keep on your device, be careful what you say online, be careful who might be listening. The sea surrounds us, but sometimes this place feels smaller than any of our islands. Yet we keep finding our small rebellions. The football jokes that circulate, the dry comments about SOEs buying players instead of fixing roads, the way we still speak up even when we know the cost. There's something stubborn in us, something that refuses to be completely silenced even when they try to scare us into quiet. Maybe that's our real sovereignty - not measured in size, but in the quiet persistence of ordinary people who keep speaking their truth, however carefully.