From a Ragamuffin to a Ranee

I had lost all the hope in the world. I never believed that I could be who I am right now. If anyone told me that one day I would be living in the White House, I would have laughed at his face. This is my story.

I grew up knowing nothing but poverty. Going for days with no food, having to wear very tattered clothes, having shaggy hair and walking barefoot. My nails had broken so many times that they no longer had shape. However, my face still had its two beautiful dimples which seemed deeper every time I smiled.

I do not know if you have gathered how my life was. Sometimes, I was forced to collect food from the garbage pit. Rotten mangoes, stale bread, and all the other filthy things. Stray dogs were my best companions and corridors were my shelter. In short, I was a street child.

While still in the city streets, I made it my business to be literate. I first started with knowing the alphabets and numbers, then, how to write my name. I was able to construct simple sentences, which later turned to be compound sentences then complex sentences. My grammar was so good that I could have passed a test with ease. I read posters, old newspapers, billboards, and anything else that had writing on it.

As time went by, I became tired of living such an idle life and started looking for a job. I was eleven years old by then. I realized that most employers wanted to use me like a marionnette. They wanted me to work for no pay. As a girl, I also went through a lot of challenges. I did not understand the changes taking place in my body and men were trying to have a go at me.

I found a job where I would just be an intern. I was to do laundry, cook and look after a three year old child. After this, I would be paid two hundred shillings per day (which is equivalent to 2 US dollars per day).

I was able to buy myself some secondhand clothes and simple shoes. However, my money was never enough. I needed to do so many things to shape my life. I daydreamed of mansions, superb health spas, a lot of fresh food.  I still remember that first time when I bought myself a fleshy mango. It was so juicy that I just couldn’t seem to throw the seed away. That juice was so refreshing that I wondered where these types of mangoes were (maybe like 2 months ago) but obviously they were in the market.

Then one day, I saved someone’s life. Do you want to know who? Well, you will get to know if you continue reading this article.

He was just walking around in civilian clothes and no bodyguards. Funny thing, it seemed that I was the only one who knew him. Were people blind? He looked right and forgot to look left before he crossed the road.

Then I heard it. I knew what would happen next and as young as I was (13 years by that time), I pushed him away from danger, a technique I had learnt from the street and I was hit instead.

I remember seeing his shocked face, a small crowd gathering and the siren of an ambulance from a very far distance. Just before I slipped into unconsciousness I said, “I just saved the President.”

I had been in a coma for a month with a fractured skull. Within that period, I do not know what happened, although I read the newspapers later. The media wanted to interview me but I pleaded for my privacy. By the time I was out of the hospital, guess what? I was the President’s daughter, legally adopted. Yeah, I live in the White House.

I have never forgotten my past, I appreciate my present and build my future.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons