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MUSIMBI VALERIE ATSIAYA
I’m 15 years
old. My father died when I was only six years old. My mother, who was
expecting was travelling to Nairobi to visit her husband (my dad), when she
delivered me on the bus. Six months later, she was back at our rural home
burying him. She did not understand why her life had decided to take her
through such a bad twist. But she got over it and focused her life again on her
own. She decided she needed a job, since she knew relatives and
friends in Nairobi.
She travelled
back to Nairobi as soon as I was old enough to stay with my grandparents. My
sister was four years older than me. She started school when my mother left.
From the very
start I was strong and fat. I was bigger than my age-mates. I wore boys’
clothes and preferred to play with boys. I felt that girls were boring and
crying all the time. I even fought with boys. I remember when I was in class
two, a boy lost his toy car and accused me of stealing it. He threatened to
beat me up.
That was a
mistake! At home time he approached me and beat me hard on my head with a big
stick. I turned around and snatched the stick from his hand, and whacked his head his several times before he
fell down and ran away home.
He was not
seriously injured but to the shock of my grandparents. I was expelled for that. My grandparents found another school for me. News of my strengths spread
everywhere and the pupils in my new school were afraid of me. They were afraid I would kill
one of them. It was hard for me to make friends with girls again. However, boys
love strong people and soon all my friends were boys.
I am not a cry baby. I am tough. Am still the
biggest and fattest pupil in my school. Everyone wonders what I eat. I think
it’s just the way God made me. It has advantages. I can play any boy’s game. I
love soccer, my best game. By best friend in class is Moses because he can
play soccer like a man. Ninety minute of soccer is not a joke and he scored! I
play for the girls team soccer is fun.
I had been warned about fighting in school. But
I’m a friendly girl. It’s not my habit to fight and so I promised not to fight.
It was still hard for me to make friends with girls. They were too busy being
jealous that I was free with boys and played with them all the time. Just then
our deputy head teacher stopped to see what was going. That earned me another
expulsion.
My mother came home from Nairobi for a visit and
found me without a school. I was in class six. She was disappointed but she
understood my explanation. My mother knows me very well. She knows I’m
aggressive and would not fight unless to
defend myself. My grandparents were reluctant to convince another school to admit me to a school in
Nairobi. Although she could hardly afford. My sister had to continue in her
school in a school living with my parents.
Mother’s
friend said she could help us. She introduced us to Mr. Raphael and Mr. Musumba.
That is how I found myself at Hamomi children centre. Here things were different. All the girls
love soccer. Every one plays soccer and other games. Everyone shared the toys
from the office. There are books, paints, balls and even food.
I even met Susie Marks. She doesn't talk too
much. She talks about children's rights and so on. Girls in town play with
everyone and they make friends unlike girls in the rural. I enjoyed the company
of so many friends at Hamomi.
Thank you.
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