August 6, 2020
By Ethel Daka
I watched her grow worried, so worried that her mother’s pain might never have a chance to cease. She was not under any treatment after all.
Her mother was diabetic, with swollen feet and the inability to move. She had no earnings thus had no idea of how her mother could be better.
They lived in a slum, a single room, built with half baked bricks of mud with expectations that it might fall anytime. They couldn’t manage to pay the debt for their accommodation, thirty thousand Ugandan shillings per thirty days and now it was ninety days passed, they are sad people.
“Father left us,” she said
“I was just eight when he departed.” added the fourteen year old girl helplessly.
Her mother lived as worried as her daughter, she thought of their situation, she just knew that her daughter was at the verge of temptation.
She was wondering how her little girl will survive the men that are hungry for the precious and innocent lives… convincing them to have sex at a cost of food, they now had more reasons. It wasn’t just lack of food, her mother was sick too. That’s more money needed.
Life is so difficult for the little girls that are orphaned. They lack food, they lack clothing and all the most important necessities of life. Men take advantage of them, they sleep with them, get them pregnant and their children live in the same cycle of suffering; they have no inspiration after all.
Their parents have no say as well.
They can be laid off for as little as 500 Ugandan shillings (ugsh), just enough to buy a chapatti, just not to be too hungry, it doesn’t satisfy after all.
This is how they live their life everyday, they need hope. They need motivation, they are sad, they live in pain, they get pregnant and produce children when they are tender…they feel unloved. They need compassion.
This is a life that a typical poor Ugandan girl lives.
Ethel Daka
Writer
Namunjasi Ethel Daka is a hard-working and motivated woman. She is passionate about young people and the vulnerable. She enjoys writing about the lives of young people in rural areas and slums, as well as orphans. She's a budding writer who can't wait to see vulnerable people find a solution and justice for their feelings. She is born again and firmly believes that God watches over and will intervene in the situation of the underprivileged and underappreciated. His main goal in life is to build a large orphanage that will help young people become responsible citizens with a heart for helping others.
Images credits:
Featured image: @marcocontisikic and @innamodjaofficiel
