When i first came across the topics for this week, i immediately knew exactly who i've known as a resilient woman all my life but thinking about this made me realize i may not be living up to her expectations as i'm not half as resilient as she is.
Growing up, i heard stories about her from family members, friends, her and even strangers
Her childhood dream was to be a nun, serve God, travel round the world and offer help to the needy but when she realised “certain people” won’t let that dream come to fruition, she scraped out the part of “becoming a nun” and got married to the first “serious” man that came her way instead of becoming a prostitute like her guardians wanted.
From a very tender age, she lived with her aunt who was married into a polygamous home, the struggles she went through in that house are traumatising and whenever i think of it, i’m surprised at how she managed to forgive them and move on because truthfully, if i was in that position and eventually survived it, i would NEVER forgive them. She didn't know her parents till she was eighteen years old and even when she did, she was not allowed to visit them often. As a child till she got married and left her guardian’s house, she was always maltreated, beaten and forced to fend for herself, her aunt would introduce her to older men and tell her to make them “happy” so they would give her money, she always refused and ran away and running away means recieving intense beating but she didn’t mind until a day where there was no way she could escape, on that day she was raped and her aunt recieved the “reward” from the man. At different intervals, her cousin would take her properties to a “herbalist” sometimes they would lock her outside, she once got registered to be a nun and bought a train ticket but her aunt got wind of it and tore her papers. All these pushed her to get married quickly and leave the house, of course, her aunt wasn't happy with this decision but there was nothing she could do.
After marriage and four kids (including one from my dad’s extramarital affair that she took in as hers), my mum struggled as a housewife especially with my stubborn elder siblings. One special day, on her way back from the market, she got involved in a terrible accident, that almost took her life, her left hand was badly injured to the point where the doctors opted to cut it off but she declined saying she needs it to take care of her kids, finally, flesh from her laps were cut to replace the skin on her arm and as i could imagine anesthetics weren't as good as they are now (this was years before i was born, more or less, 26 years ago) and while she was still trying to heal, she took in for my dad and he made her abort it, she was extremely broken both physically and emotionally, he even accused her of sleeping with the doctor, this made my mum tell God that she doesn't need a child for a very long time and God granted her request because 7 years later, she gave birth to me (her only girl). In 2020, she was operated on to remove fibroid that she was battling with for years.
To shorten this and save me from shedding further tears, I'll stop here. In all these years and with all these, she still chooses to see the good in humans and hasn't stopped giving or caring for once, she uses her life experience to help and motivate the people she can while maintaining her beautiful smile.
This is my entry to the ladies of hive community contest and I'm inviting 
2️⃣ Let's talk about a resilient woman, it can be your friend, family member, co-worker, etc. What is her life challenge and what did she do to overcome the trial she faced?
Thank you for reading my blog ❤️
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