Zimbabwe: Primrose

I was born and bred in Makonde district. I also did my primary and secondary education in the same district whilst staying with my late father and stepmother. My parents had divorced when I was still young and my late father had insisted that my mother leaves me behind. My late father was a loving and caring man but my stepmother was spiteful person. She would never acknowledge anything that I did. She always framed me to my late father and he would only caution me. That did not go down well with my stepmother and she would look at me with a scornful eye.  

Whenever my late father was away my stepmother would find a way to attack me. I would try my level best not cross her path least she would beat the hell out of me. That I managed to do many times but at some instances she would catch me off guard and I would be thoroughly beaten. When my father passed on I knew that my stay in Makonde would be tough because my stepmother would not have anyone to reprimand her. I would also have no one to protect me from her wrath. After my father’s burial my mother pleaded with my uncles that she took me with her to Norton but the offer was turned down. My mother then secretly gave me some money to keep to myself which I was to later use as bus fare to Norton. 

My stepmother would scream at me for no apparent reason. I was like a slave in my father’s home. She would not let me take a rest as she gave one task after the other. I then decided to follow my mother in Norton. After a few weeks I slipped away because if my stepmother saw me with a bag she would have spoiled my escape plans. Life was unbearable in Makonde with my stepmother and I could no longer withstand it.  

My stepfather, half brothers and half sisters welcomed me into their home. i was now part of a happy family because my mother had already set all the groundwork for my coming. I started selling some fresh green and dried vegetables at my mother’s market stall. My stepfather encouraged me to study and sit for the subjects that I had failed. I then fell in love with a young man who later turned out to be my husband.  

He paid lobola in the traditional way. We later had a wedding and I moved in with my husband. My husband sent me to a vocational training centre where I did some baking lessons. I am now a well known supplier of wedding, birthday and anniversary cakes in Norton. I wish to grow my business and have employees to assist me.