Saving Marys

My memory is sketchy but i remember when i was a child i used to bring home street children. Give them a bath.. Give them my clothes.. Give them food. Theres this one time there was a girl about 2 years older bt she looked younger than me, she was called Mary. So i did the same for her. Clothes, food, a good bath but her parents were having problems at home so i asked my mum if she could stay... You know i wonder why my mother let me do these stuff and she once said how do you tell your child not to be kind? So she never really stopped me... So Mary stayed with us for a while but she wanted to go home cause she didnt like living by the rules and at her home they didnt have rules... She used to come over once in a while to eat then she stopped coming so i begged my mum to take me to Mary's house so that we know how she was doing. Btw Mary never used to go to school. She used to beg. She used to live in Soweto slums in a small shanty with her huge family, her brothers used to go to school fyi and i found out that her parents told her to stop coming to visit us because she started asking them for more than they can offer. So she stopped coming and life went on.. 2 years later i hear she got a baby at 14 years. Imagine that!! So i look back at these things, how many Marys are out there. With no education and early pregnancies...


What is missing in our society that such children are having children and what happens to these young mothers? They become hawkers kukimbizana na kanjo and prostitutes, they become street mothers and where does this stop? Their children become street kids or taken to children's home... Reminds me of Atieno yo poem.. Repeating the life the mother used to live... I remember in form 2 working at a children's home in Kibera called Lea Toto where Hiv positive orphans are taken care of... Question was: What happened to their parents?



Was it a Mary situation? So call me a feminist whatever you may, but i will always advote for the girls' rights! And you should too... Everyone should be a feminist! Even males! It doesnt mean forget the boy child. No no! It means give girls basic opportunities that every human being deserves. Education, good sanitation and health education... If we take care of them even if its by paying school fees and just speaking out where we can, we can save so many like Mary...

For the economists We reduce early pregnancies and reduce population density by giving them health education and also increasing GDP of our country by making them financially stable through education... I dont know about you. But thats where i think i will start to help....