Overcoming by Believing

Stories are told not just for entertainment but for a stronger purpose,not just to amuse the reader but to awaken him/her to see beyond that which is seen,this is because you may see me but you don't see the person within. So,I bring my story to you to let you know your not alone in this walk, others came before us and have overcome, I am overcoming and so shall you.

It's not a crime to get pregnant but it is a crime to get pregnant at 17, I told myself. However,before this I was a happy child, though distinguished from my siblings because of my silent nature,I was loved and had a place in the family, but this was short lifted when I got pregnant. You may think you can guest what happened next don't you? You may think I was abandoned immediately after that, forgotten and discarded by my family and worst of all the guy who impregnated me denied the pregnancy... Isn't that what you think well there is more to it,because my story unlike others is unique,the reason being that my "demon" was not external but from within and thus why I am an advocate for girl power because if only my parent's saw not just a child in my tender age but a growing woman in me then just maybe I would have been freed from the plight I faced.

Here is how it all went down. I got pregnant and as much as this news came as a shock to my family,my mum especially, it was even a bigger shock to me such that I still did not believe I was pregnant even after having multiple test to an extent wherein I was waiting for my belle to expand before I confirm that I am indeed pregnant. This may sound funny or unbelievable as you may be wondering what I exspected to get after laying down with my opposite sex well it would even be more humorous to you if I were to give you an answer but truly the moment i got the test result in my hands,it came like a sword stabbed through my heart living me lifeless or so I felt. It may interest you to know that in Africa having a child before marriage is tantamount to an abomination, and to think I not only had a child before marriage but also having a child at that very young age I was regarded as an outcast not just in the minds of those who looked at me but also in my own heart and mine. I was called a parasite and more,the guys who looked at me only had one intention and that was to get in-between my legs, because to them a girl who has a child is an easy target "she is a cheap toy to mess around with", that was how I was portrayed in my community.

I put to birth prematurely on the eight(8)month and my baby had Soo many complications, I had no job,did no business and the only thing I had as savings was just a thousand (1000)Francs CFA. My baby had to be put in an incubator that cost five thousand(5000)FRS per day, she had treatments and lab results that needed to be paid, I barely had a meal to eat, coupled with the fact that my breast needed to pressed inorder for breast milk to flow and when it did not flow I needed to switch to artificial milk.

In all this, her father said he was tired and that the responsibilities were too much for him to handle and till date he has not shown his face, my family on the other hand chose that it's better I suffered so i learn my lesson but no one considered this " what if the baby had died?"

But today my daughter is alive thanks to God,and those who abandoned me have let go of their anger. I did not succumb to the voices who told me my life has ended but rather am pursuing to have a degree in law. I did not give in to the street guys who wanted to have their way with me and now when they see me they respect me because they have seen that I am different. I am a woman but I am not weak, I am stronger than the pain. I encourage you, failure is an asset do not throw it away,rather archive it, it will be your success story tomorrow. Parents be alert, that toddler of yours will soon grow to be a woman don't let her be afraid of making mistakes. Teach her that mistakes, failures are inevitable, show her how to rise from it.

Teach the girl child, girl power from birth so as a woman she will stand amidst the inequality in gender and also, teach the sons humility that together we shall achieve a better tomorrow. Do not chase your daughter away with a wip when she trust you enough to talk about that guy neither should you avoid the topic, for words are very sensitive to children.

I overcame by believing I could and I did. This is my story my name is E. Lydia Ojong and I am a proud lady