When i met Susan, i could not tell her age. She is small in size and smiles a lot. Susan is 14 years old but looks 8. However you can tell she is 14 from her talking. Susan is in class four while other children her age are in Secondary school form one. She lives with her mother in the slums of Kiambiu.
Every morning, her mother wakes up early and leaves Susan with their three months old twin sisters. Its during the teachers strike and the mother is extremely happy that Susan is at home to take care of her siblings. This gives her room to be able to run her grocery where she is even at night.
Susan is left with tins of formula milk and ten shillings for her lunch. She does not have a choice but to do her job well and she is really proud of herself. To Susan she is helping her mum. Interestingly on interviewing Susan, the only complaint she had was that what she bought with the ten bob was not enough and therefore she is always hungry. But that is not what caught my eye. Its the way Susan mixed the formula milk with water. Its not hygienic at all. To make matters more complicated, i was informed that Susan is living with HIV. Ooooh could be the reason why she is in class four ad small in size. Its so risky to let a child feed her sisters. But the mother doesn't seem to care. Its my hope that Susan's twin sisters will be safe from HIV but from this kind of care, they might just not escape.
When i was Susan's age i took care of my brother but for my mum, school work came first. I never missed school unless sent away for school fees. My mother knew her responsibilities well. Why do mothers burden their children with their own responsibilities? Why should you burden your daughter with baby sitting when they are supposed to be in school or in the play field?
Oh parents of today oh!
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