It was years ago when I lost my mom and it was so hard for us then. I had to move to stay with Dad so I could help and stay with him especially trying to console him whenever he was brooding and lost in thoughts over his wife's death. Things got so hard that we just had to keep living and remain the good people we were. It was during that time a misunderstanding happened between my Dad and his siblings, in the end, my younger siblings who were staying in the village with my late Grandma were thrown out to go meet my dad. Perhaps they wanted to deal with him and see if he would be able to take care of us.
At that period, I was also sent away from my aunt's place never to return to her house again. At that point, I was so devastated and started thinking about all manners of things. There was a time I had the thought to do the wrong thing but after so much thought, I refrained from it and stuck to my good behaviour. In my family, we have never had to hawk goods because my parents wouldn't allow such. To them, we should never be found doing such especially with the kind of family I was brought up in.
I put in for jobs by submitting my CV to different schools and kept hoping to be called for an interview. My Dad was struggling so much that hardly would we eat twice a day. Sometimes, it is the same junk food we will eat every night for weeks and even months. I decided to get a job just to support him with my siblings and me. Fortunately, I got a teaching job that pays 12,000 naira. What would that even do? It wasn't even enough as I was also saving for my direct entry form after much plea and persuasion to further my degree education.
I started thinking of what to do to make more money and in the end, what my parents didn't want us to do was what I ended up doing. I started making liquid soaps, and snacks like chinchin and doughnuts and would hawk around the street and across the road. At first, I was so shy of that because it wasn't something I was brought up with. Children in the neighbourhood would laugh at me, call me names but I never bothered as I was aiming at making more money to support my family. At least it was better than going the wrong means to make money which could tarnish my family's name.
It took me weeks to get used to the new way and life of hawking. I got many customers who made a deal for me to deliver in bulk for them so they could re-sell it again. I was so happy with the progress because I could help my family and we were living fine. They thought we would be starved while with our father but God took control of the situation. I did what I couldn't do but I never gave up until I achieved what I wanted. When I look back today, I appreciate myself and see how far I have gone.
The image belongs to me
