Maria sat under the large tree in her maternal grandfather’s compound. The other children were happily playing in the big courtyard. She never seemed to care what went on around her. She closed her eyes, and then opened them, a tear dropped down.
It was about 3:00pm. Her elderly great grandmother, about eighty years old came out of the kitchen, with teary eyes reddened by smoke. With the hem of her rugged skirt she wiped her face, and then looked to the tree shade.
“Munyoro,” she called as she fondly referred to Maria.
Maria did not answer.
“Oh you’re unhappy with me, I know. You must be very hungry by now.”
Grandmother reached for a dirty, old polythene bag on the kitchen roof. She had kept some roasted ground nuts for Maria.
“Come on, have this.”
Maria remained motionless. Grandmother moved closer to her. Maria blinked and a stream of tears rolled down her cheeks.
Maria was seven years old. Her mother, Justine Birungi had dropped out of school after conceiving, at the age of seventeen. Her unknown father, a Kenyan heavy vehicle driver had left without leaving any contact information. All Birungi remembers is that he was referred to as Hajji. She had met him a few days earlier, before she slept with him in a lodge in Masindi town.
Birungi was walking to school when the heavy truck stopped by her.
“Come on darling. I will give you a lift to school.”
Similar offers from hajji went on for about a week, until he lured her to boycotting school to spend a day with him. He offered her one thousand shillings and that was the last time she saw him, way back in 1985.
Three months later, Birungi dropped out of school after realising that she was pregnant. She went to live with her grandmother Perusi in Kisabagwa village. She gave birth to Maria and lived with her grand mother until her baby was weaned.
Birungi was determined to give a happy future to her daughter. She went around the village seeking for odd jobs which mainly involved digging. She used the money that she earned to buy milk, snacks and clothes for her daughter.
One evening, as Birungi sat on the fire place with her grandmother, she revealed her plan of going to town to seek for a job. She left the following morning, leaving behind Maria, who was then three years old. She secured a job as a house maid for a school teacher in town.
Birungi worked for teacher Lydia for several years. She made sure that she saved the bigger percentage of the money she earned. She only visited her daughter on festive days but carried several gifts for her daughter and grandmother every time she visited.
In the village there were several other children living with Maria’s grand children. However, Maria was always the miserable girl in the home because she lived on insults from her cousins. Several times they referred to her as a bustard, and called her names because she did not know her father. She however found hope in her mother, her hero whom she always referred to as ‘Mummy of the city.’
After four years of working as a house maid, Birungi had saved enough money to help her rent a room to live in with her daughter and enrol her in a primary school in town. She opened a food vending business at the local market. With the meagre savings she managed to pay her daughters school fees, pay rent and provide for her daughters needs.
Birungi shifted from one petty business to another, to make ends meet. She vowed to work hard to make her daughter happy. She vended fresh food, water, and some times went on to dig on peoples gardens for money.
Maria admired her classmates who talked about their fathers, but she was happy with the love her mother showed her. She was sure her mother could never withhold anything good from her and for this reason; Maria has given her mother a new name, ‘MY HERO.’
Today, Maria holds a bachelors degree in economics and is a Banker. On her graduation day, she introduced her mother to her guests as the most important thing that has happened to her life. She explained that only a mother can deny herself the joys of life just for the sake of a child she mothered at a tender age and for an irresponsible man.
AUTHOR:
Annette Najjemba lives in Hoima, Uganda.
Wow. Beautiful.
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