Regrets and Mistakes

Pilot

Poverty really is a disease,I have grown to be this cold,emotionless and very determined young woman,as a child I watched my mother struggle to put food on our table,clothes on our bodies and a roof over our heads,I became responsible at the age 12,my mother disappeared from my life when I was 5 I heard she got married to a very violent man who did not want her to bring any children along,my mother left me with my aunty Tila,a very strict woman with a cruel heart,she was a single woman with two spoiled daughters,when I was 12,one night my mother appeared with a little girl wrapped in a blanket,her skin was wrinkled seemingly no lotion was applied on that body for a long time,her eyes were teary with a wave of sadness in them, my aunty welcomed her and that little girl,we started staying with them,I thought her attitude towards me would change after the arrival of my mother but it only got worse. Months later aunty tila could not accommodate all three of us she was forced to chase us,when we left her house we had nothing to our names,no shelter,no food,no nothing. When we arrived in the city,there was a relief in my chest,little did I know the nightmare had only begun and it would be on me to ensure my family's safety,my mother started a small tomato business that seemed to be doing very well,I started school and would tutor other kids for some extra money, life took a turn for the worst when I saw a large group of people surrounding my mothers shop,apparently she just collapsed,a Good Samaritan took her the hospital,my heart broke into pieces when I heard the diagnosis." Multiple cerebral vascular strokes" I was only 13 and my sister was a year old,I became a provider and a mother to my little sister,I would attend classes and tutor the slow students and spend my evenings selling tomatoes and vegetables like my mother would do. As the years went by i managed to open a proper shop which became our source of income,being the smart kid I was I managed to get a scholarship to the university,I cleared and graduated with a bachelors degree in physiotherapy.
My name is Munachoonga chinjamba and this is my story.