Against all Odds

Lisa was getting really tired of staying in the hospital with mum. It had been two weeks since the baby arrived! Having endured a complicated delivery, mum was being kept in the hospital for some tests and observations.  The only good part was that meals were regular and good. Lisa could get used to this! One evening, her mother beckoned her to get a wrapper. She took the baby, strapped it on Lisa’s back, took off her money bag and hung it on Lisa’s neck, took off her slippers and asked her to put them on. After getting her dressed, she asked her to go buy some milk for the baby. At ten, Lisa was confused. It was so strange having to dress all grown up just to get some baby milk. Walking in mum’s “shoes” was not the most comfortable of experiences. She almost fell over twice trying to keep her balance. It was a walk she would live to remember for the rest of her life. Her mum passed away while she was gone. Lisa was left alone with a two week old baby, oversized slippers, a neck purse and a jar of milk. She was inconsolable.

Aunt Margaret was the closest next of kin to mum. She came to the hospital and the first thing she demanded for was the neck purse. It held all of mum’s earthly savings. Aunt Margaret “adopted” all of them, Lisa, her six year old brother and the new born baby. Lisa had to grow up in a hurry. She was saddled with the full responsibility of mothering her younger siblings. She learnt to feed the baby and change the diapers. The nights were particularly difficult. Sometimes the baby just wouldn’t stop crying  and Lisa struggled with what to do. She often cried along with it, all alone. She missed her mum. She missed having a good night sleep. Why did her dad have to die as well? The hardest bit was having to wait on Aunt Margaret to provide money for the feeds. After all it was mum’s money! Life was a cycle of hunger and neglect. There were days they didn’t have anything to eat, days she watched Aunt Margaret going through mum’s clothes and shoes, spending quite recklessly on herself. Eventually Aunt Margaret got tired of them and they all got shipped to live with grandpa. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Grandpa didn’t have much but he had a heart full of love. Lisa felt loved and cared for at Grandpas house. They also had enough to eat because he was a farmer. She remembered vividly being sent away from school because grandpa couldn’t pay her school fees. Although away for two weeks, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He walked the few miles and negotiated with the headmaster. After the harvest, he would be able to pay what he owed. It was important to keep Lisa in school. The Headmaster agreed. She was the first child to get this far in secondary education and the GCE exams were coming up soon. It was difficult to concentrate on her school work; what with taking care of her younger ones and running the home. She was determined to succeed no matter the cost.  

Amazingly, Lisa had the best results in the whole county. She was offered an admission and a scholarship into the university in Uganda. Her name was on the local news (so she heard!) as they didn’t own a television. God in heaven must have been listening to her prayers. Her mum had always joked about her going to a Cambridge University. What a laugh, none of them knew where it was and what it meant! Although her mum had been uneducated, she was however a first class farmer. What she lacked in education, she made up for in hard work and diligence. She also dreamed big for her children.

Lisa and her aunty went to the city to sign the paperwork for her scholarship. Something unexpected however happened. There was no trace of her new admission and of the scholarship she had won. It had simply disappeared into thin air. What a bitter blow for Lisa. The staff in the ministry of education told them it wasn’t anything new. Her admission would probably have been sold to the highest bidder since she didn’t have anyone in government to stand for her. It meant someone else would be going to the school in her name and enjoying all the benefits of her scholarship. Lisa wept bitterly! She had just missed her chance to escape a life of penury and hardship.

It was a painful year of missing out on school. She spent her time working with special needs children in a catholic school near the house. The extra money went a long way in providing for her necessities. For the first time, she was able to buy the clothes she liked. She even bought a pair of covered shoes with heels. She didn’t want it too high with her 5’10’’ frame. Her new look brought her a lot of male attention which she wasn’t used to. It was exciting to be told she was beautiful and desirable. She yearned to hear such words. She was a natural black beauty but didn’t have any confidence at all in herself.

Lisa had to retake her exams that year and she did exceptionally well. Once again, she gained admission into the university to study Special Education. Fortunately for her, she was able to continue working part time while going to school. In this way, she supported herself. She didn’t mind the five mile walk each way to lectures and back. Her only problem was the hunger she sometimes had to endure because she couldn’t “waste” money on food. She also developed a bit of body odour because she sweated so much. It made her self conscious and she kept as far away from people as she could. She also had to live on one meal a day sometimes. The daily walk back home always seemed harder. Maybe it was the hunger or the uncomfortable shoes. She would watch children hawking food on trays and wished she could just have a bite.  Everything looked sumptuous to her hungry eye. The memory of her responsibilities kept her in check. She couldn’t afford to be wasteful with money.

In her third year, her luck seemed to turned. She met Trevor, a university lecturer who lived not too far from her home. He had a car and was willing to help Lisa whenever he could.  The ride meant a lot to her. It afforded her more rest and  time to give attention to her studies. In appreciation, she helped Trevor cook and keep house. He was so kind and attentive to her. He told her how special she was and how much he loved her. He said she could eat as much as she wanted and rest as much as she wanted in his house. He made her feel really special and loved, indeed a godsend! What he didn’t tell her was that he was a married man with children.

By her final year, Lisa found herself pregnant. Her nightmare had just begun. How would she tell her aunt? If only grandpa was still alive! Lisa felt hopeless. She had no one to turn to as Trevor didn’t want anything to do with her anymore. He wasn’t even sure if the baby was his! She knew she would definitely be thrown out of the family house as this act of shame was unacceptable in her culture. To cut a long story short, Trevor was forced to marry her as a second wife. She moved into his home with her two younger siblings. Marriage certainly wasn’t what she had expected and by 25, she was feeling a hundred years old. There was already trouble in paradise.

Lisa was full of grit and graduated with a First Class degree. She was offered a job in the university but preferred to continue working with her catholic employer. Once again, she was fortunate and got another scholarship to do a Master’s degree in the United Kingdom.  When her letter came, she was very sceptical and didn’t want to be too excited.   This could be a repeat of  the past. The catholic sisters reassured her by saying it was being managed by the British government and not by Uganda. She therefore didn’t need anyone in government to stand for her.  The only catch was that she had to formally accept the scholarship before the 31st of August. There was no money for the  day trip to the city and Trevor didn’t see the need for this unnecessary nonsense.  She tried all she could but couldn’t raise the money. Even  Aunt Margaret couldn’t offer any help. By Friday the 31st, Lisa had lost all hope. She knew she was being cheated by fate again. It was a sad day indeed. She could only but pray and ask God for a miracle. Did He not say “nothing was impossible with Him.” I believe you Lord, please prove yourself. Even she didn’t believe her own prayer. Lisa got into bed and cried herself to sleep that afternoon. She couldn’t believe this was happening a second time. All hope was lost.

The solution eventually came from Trevor. He concluded that maybe this could be a way out for him. If Lisa left for school, it would be one less problem in his life. He therefore offered her a ride to the city to see if anything could still be done. The drive took them fifteen hours. It turned out to be a wasted journey and for the second time, Lisa was inconsolable. She questioned why things were always so difficult for her. She remembered losing her mum so abruptly. She remembered all the hardship she had to endure putting herself through university. Every good thing just always seemed out of reach. What was wrong with her? she remembered her miserable loveless marriage, her two siblings and the two adorable children she had with Trevor. What could she ever offer them? All hope was lost and they returned home despondently.

Fast forward to 2019 when I met Lisa, she had not only completed her Masters in Cambridge university but her PHD as well. Her marriage to Trevor had ended in a divorce and she had made peace with Aunty Margaret who was helping raise her children.  She was a svelte and truly beautiful lady who could pass for a model any day. One would never have believed all that she had gone through in life looking at her. Lisa was happy to return home after her studies to be with her children.