All i wanted is love and i have found it in my two boys

When mama Blessings came to see me recently with her two handsome boys i could not help notice how beautiful she was. The 38 year old mother had been referred to me by her salon client after she narrated her story. In this our world, every woman has a story.

I thank God for blessing me with the gift of being a good listener. I sat to listen to Rose having to cope too with her hyperactive son who kept on interrupting our discussion.

Rose was nineteen years old when she bid goodbye to her parents to go and study abroad. She was to go and undertake a course in Tourism studies in the UK. After one year in London, she met a young Congolese man who fell in love with her and within no time they were having sex. The relationship happened so fast and after some time, she started experiencing illness. She was diagnosed with TB and further tests revealed she also had contracted HIV.

Rose had to come back home without completing her studies. She felt ashamed of what she had done to herself and family. She hated herself. On disclosing her status to her family, hell broke loose. She was thrown out of her home by those who were supposed to show her love. Father, mother, brothers and sisters became her worst enemies. Out in the cold, struggle for survival began. Rose admits that with her kind of background and then sudden poverty, coping was very difficult.

Rose has tried to have a baby five times. Her first born died early while she has had two miscarriages. The father of her children is a married man. I asked her why she went ahead to have children yet she was struggling to feed them. Her answer was, "All i wanted was love. Love that is unconditional, and here it is. my children love me and i love them so much, they give me a reason to smile"

Rose now lives a day at a time, doing what she knows best hairdressing and artwork. There is no doubt she is talented. But am in tears, why did this have to happen to such a beautiful young woman? Her dreams were shattered. The only support Zawadi can give is hope and a little money to start a business. I did and this morning she called, she had been thrown out of her rented house for three months rent arrears and used the seed fund that i gave her. She is back to the cycle of poverty.