Everything happens for a reason
That’s what you old folks always say
But this is my own opinion
Things don’t happen for a reason
They just happen and for no reason at all
So please don’t tell me that everything happens for a reason
How can you say my situation happened for a reason?
Remember, I was just twelve
Yes, of course, I was just a child
Just like your children,
Just like your daughters
I was still in school
And I was in standard seven
I wanted to go to secondary
Especially the boarding schools
I wanted to be a doctor
I had goals I wanted to archive in future
But within a blink of an eye, everything falls down
Just like the wall of Jericho
Just like any other day, I was on my way to school
The same school I went to every day
The same road I used to pass every day
This is the part I fail to explain…
Not because I forgot…
But because my eyes are filled with tears
My whole body is paralysed
And no words can come out of my mouth
Because I couldn’t believe what happened at that particular moment
A man who is older than my dad… raped me!
Now I’m 21, living with HIV and AIDS
The baby couldn’t make it
Oh! poor guy, thank God you’re in heaven
My people in the village made me abort it
Because I wasn’t mature
Even if I’m mature enough, I can’t keep the baby of a man who raped me, I swear!
So they made me drink some unknown leaves, abortion pills and stuffs
Still, the damage was done
I don’t trust my health anymore
I always got sick at school
So I’m a school dropout, if you can call it that
Now something that happened ten years ago
It still affects me now mentally and physically
Now seeing my friends living their dreams
Tears run down my cheek
Wonder why I didn’t become one of them
I’m selling sugarcanes to at least buy a bar of soap
My dreams turned into nightmares
So please don’t tell me that my situation happened for a reason
It’s just like an insult to me
Remember, I was just twelve.