Difficulties that I have turn around through perseverance and enthusiasm.



At the age of 9 when I got to primary five the struggle in my life started. My father did not see a reason why I should continue with education even though I loved school. My father said “school is not meant for you but for your brothers” and I should stay at home with my mother to help her with house chores, farm works, help her to sell her farm produce so that the money could be used to pay my brothers school fees while waiting for a man to come and marry me.



Fortunately for me that same year an uncle of mine who lived in Yaoundé and knew my condition needed a house help in his home and I was the one he choose for the work so I left for Yaoundé. But after living with him for some time my uncle discovered I was smart so he decided to send me to school to finish my primary level of education. I went to school, I was enrolled in primary six but as fate has it my uncle won a scholarship to study abroad and I had to go back to my parents since he couldn’t take me along.



I knew then that, that was the end for me as far education was concerned. But that was not the case because my uncle convinced my parents of how smart I was. So back with my parents I continued school and it was not easy for me because I was a girl and as such there were so many house work for me alone .Every day after school I had to go to the farm, market or cook for the family and after all these chores I get tied thus had little or no time to read my books or do my assignments from school. Even studying at night was exhausting because my dad would say I will finish his kerosene and if I must read I should do it aloud so everyone could hear .I felt bad because this was not the case for my brothers for they had enough time to read during the day and at night they just slept.



I managed to complete my primary education but my father insisted that I will not go to secondary school .I made some sells and with the help of my mother, I was able to register me for exams, but it was not easy for me because my father’s brother kept my birth certificate and he said he saw nothing good in educating me nor registering for the entrance examination into secondary school because I won’t make it .So he went ahead and told my father and without talking to me about my plans my father got me well beaten. I did not give up because of the trust my uncle abroad had in me and because while with him I saw the importance of education .I succeeded to register with the help of my mother and I succeeded the entrance examination into secondary school and my father was still not happy with it .One of my teachers advised him to have a second thought about my education but my father refused. And when she saw that there was no way to convince my father, she help and paid the first installment for my fees and it was 11000 FRS.



Fortunately as God will always make way, my uncle who went abroad send a friend of his to us and equally to check how far my education was .When he came and asked my mother told him everything .he got sad about it and demanded to see my teacher who paid the first installment of my fees .when we got there he paid back her money and finished the balance of my fees.



So I started going to school without my father’s concern .I went to school and after school I helped my mother with chores and in the evening I studied my books hard but with all these my father did not see the value of my education and it pain me a lot but this was what kept me going on because I wanted to prove to him that it was not a wastage of money educating me.



I worked very hard in school and I had no one to advise me on which subjects to study in school .Some of my friends did the Science subjects while some did Arts, so I was confused because I was good in all the subjects. At last I choose Arts .I registered the GCE ordinary level and succeeded in five papers and at the advanced level I succeeded with three papers. That was when my father told me ‘my daughter am proud of you ‘I was very happy .My father was so disappointed because my brothers that he was struggling to educate, some abandoned school and others failed their exams.



Today, I am the only educated person in my family with the highest qualification .With my little income I was able to rebuild my father’s house where he lives today in his old age .My father till date is still apologizing for what he did to me and he feels bad seeing that I am the only person supporting him and the whole family not his sons the same people he was struggling to educate. My younger brother decided to go to school so I am singly handed educating him and now he is in high school. I am very happy of my achievements in life .I am into business and my father always calls and ‘say god bless you my daughter’.

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