Nakita's Dreams

Nakita is a peculiar choice of name for a child. With its Greek origins, it was strange to comprehend how the meaning of the name would become the sole purpose for Nakita's existence. Nakita literally translates to unconquered.

Nakita is the youngest of ten children. She lived in a remote African village called Tofo in Mozambique. It's hard to fathom why she has been given this name, after all children don't symbolise the meaning of their name.

The village consists of a strict social hierarchy, the elder statesman presided over upholding the rule of law. In this strange society girls are taught from a young age not to enquire about living, dreaming, education, or possibilities. Life was written out for girls, they were either sold off to a distant cousin at the ripe old age of 11 to become a wife, mother, worker or they were killed if they had no use.

It is often thought if girls can't produce children, they had been corrupted by some ancient curse. All the witchcraft and painful practices couldn't make all the girls produce children. Often girls died a pitiful painful death in childbirth. Unsurprising with lack of medical support, and other modern world wonders life often resulted in death for these poor young souls.

Nakita's day often starts before the sun rose, she'd walk seven miles through dusty mud, dangerous forests to collect a single bucket of water for the village. She often made the walk alone as everyone had a prescribed job. Trundling day after day in bare feet under the scorching sun she knew better than to fail her daily mission. For every spilled drop of water, there is a brute that would whip or whelp her, often leaving her in a painful bloody heap on the floor.

She doesn't have time to cry, like a wounded animal she would lick her wounds and begin her other jobs.

The interesting thing about Nakita is that she is a curious child, she saw the boys dress in something called shorts and a shirt. She wore bare threads of old sacks exposing her hard, cracked skin for all to see. She resembled a human skeleton, with bones protruding sharply through her skin. Her mind is excellent though, dreaming every second of everyday, even whilst completing the mundane task of sweeping and beating the village yard.

She wondered why being a girl should prevent her from going to this place called school. She didn't know what this place called school was. At night, when her brothers returned she sat silently observing their work.

All of her brothers, all nine of them lived in the little mud hut that was no bigger than a western bathroom. With lack of ventilation and light, she relied on the last embers of the moon to carefully observe the practice called homework.

With the elders out of the way chanting some exotic sounding prayer, Nakita enquired as to what her older brother Teto what he was doing. Teto was a thick brute in body and mind, with a caring heart, he didn't mind explaining to his little sister what he was doing. Although he did warn her not to let the elders know. Teto wasn't academically gifted, and failure to complete homework would result in the bottom of his soles being beaten beyond imagination. He needed to be able to walk to school without the pain of broken bloodied feet, so he enlisted the help of Nakita on a nightly basis to do his homework.

Nakita learned to count by recording her footsteps, she observed how to tell the time through understanding how mother nature reminded her daily what the time was. She learnt to understand the seasons through the weather. A queer child with the ability to grasp complex topics was able to complete her brother's homework, without ever setting foot in a school herself.

She understands well that school isn't for girls, but she couldn't help of dreaming that some godly intervention would allow her to go to school one day. Listening carefully to the other brothers, she carefully acquired the skills needed to go to school.