Being cursed by the whole village for being the first teenager to get pregnant, my mother gave birth to me under a bridge… and ran away.
To this day, I still ask myself, why didn't she just abort me?
If I had died that day, maybe I wouldn't have had to live through this pain.
But some people just don't know how to mind their business.They had to save my life.
Then came him ,a boy who saved me.
He became my home, my hope…
And maybe, the second dangerous mistake in my life,after being born without my permission.
Now, I was being forced to live with strangers. Again.And once again, I felt lost.I learned life the hard way.It was never easy.
Some days we didn't have school uniforms. I wore a short, ragged dress and shoes that used to be white—but had turned black with dust and time.Soap was a luxury we couldn't afford.We lived hand to mouth.
After school, I helped Mom in the garden, then we sold vegetables until sunset.
Even though what we had was never enough, I had to adapt.Some days, we'd eat only once,at night.We'd go the whole day hungry… but never stopped praying.
We believed God would remember us someday.But deep down, I was already losing hope.All I wanted was a better life.
Not riches—just a warm meal, peace, and rest.But maybe that wasn't meant for us.
Maybe our story was always meant to be about struggle.
There were moments I wanted to give up.
But I kept holding on for Mom and my siblings, and for myself.
I prayed,
"God, give me strength… and please, let this old lady live. I owe her everything."
Even through the pain, I was growing up.
In that small village, I had no friends.
I was always alone.
At first, it stung.
But slowly, I got used to the silence.
Being around Mom and my siblings gave me small sparks of hope.Whenever they could, my older siblings would send food and little money.My big brother, Trevor, was the most loving of them all.Whenever he had anything extra, he sent it home.Even through our suffering, our home was full of love.
Trevor worked hard to make sure I had what I needed.
When I was going into first year in high school, he had finally secured a stable job.
He paid my boarding school fees and bought me new uniforms.
From being the invisible girl in the village to becoming the girl everyone suddenly wanted to be friends with ,it felt like everything had changed.
I thought the struggle was finally over.
But I was wrong.
Because while I was celebrating the sunrise…
The sun was already setting.