She was from a poor family. They lived in a two-roomed house in Bwaise that would flood whenever the rains came.
Her mother could barely afford rent, let alone fees. But she was determined that her children would go to school. She was determined that her children would not end up like her.
So she worked two jobs. At a fish factory during the day and at night, she sold tomatoes in the kalerwe market. She was often too tired to do any mothering by the time she came back home, late in the night.
Nankya was the first of six children. She was a bright kid, worked hard at school and was very obedient. Because of the perpetual absence of her mother, she had to look after her siblings. Be their mother, as it were. Whilst working hard at school. It was tough but she endured. She knew that it would all work out one day.
One term, in her senior 2, the fees was not enough for her and all her siblings. Being the good girl that she was, she decided to sit at home until the next term. Though it pained her.
She decided to help her mother by selling the tomatoes during the day. So her mother would atleast rest.
While selling the tomatoes one day, a kind man came up to her. He was so nice. He bought all the tomatoes at a price higher than she was selling. She went home skipping that day.
The very next day, the kind man still came up to her and bought all her tomatoes. This went on for several days, the man buying all her merchandise.
That was the highlight of Nankya’s day.
The man then started to bring for her a few trinkets. Necklaces, earrings, shoes.
And she accepted them. No one had ever been that nice or that generous to her. And to top that off, the man never asked for anything in return.
Her mother was too preoccupied to notice that Nankya had new things and Nankya did a good job in hiding these things.
One day, the man invited her to his house. She went willingly because she knew that that was her friend and nothing bad would happen to her.
She never noticed the man locking the door. She was too busy looking around and admiring his house. The house seemed like a mansion compared to hers.
Before she knew it, he was on top of her. She screamed for help but no one could hear her.
Fast forward to a few months later, her mother noticed that something was wrong with Nankya. She was moody, tired and getting fatter all the time. She realized her daughter was pregnant after watching her throw up the entire breakfast she had just eaten.
To say she was disappointed would be an understatement.
In this case who is to blame, the predator who took advantage of a young girl’s naivety? The mother too tired to do any mothering? Or the naive young girl?
Really twefugge! Let’s end teenage pregnancies.