A NEW DAWN

The yellow rays of the sun could be seen from the horizon penetrating the tall trees of Kimono village .Echoes of birds' singing their melodies could be heard indicating a new dawn.People from Kimono village have all waken up and walking in groups carrying their hoes heading to their farms. Anita wakes from her slumber , she sees a ray of light passing through the cracks of her grandmother's hut. Each day she sees it as an opportunity to build up on her dream .Throwing away her blanket, she picks her pot that sits at one corner of the hut and rush towards the river. On her way she meets other villagers, as she approaches a group of around five women,they all stand aside and grave silence is observed.She wonders but shrugs her shoulder. Anita passes and greets them but noone answers, she continues through the narrow path. Anita fills her pot and heads back to her grandmother's hut .On the way, she still meets the women gossiping' this is the daughter of Kalulu , who embraced western education but she's still here!' she hears one woman from the group talking. Anita walks past the women and heads back home to her grandmother's mud hut. She begins her household chores , prepares tea and goes to wake up her grandmother. "Breakfast is ready ma'am" her grandmother clicks" who's ma'am" as she puts her red flip flops on her legs . These were bought by her first born daughter who lives in the city. Looking at Anita and smiling"these are a treasure ,I have never worn such since my childhood!". Goodness, Anita could not believe it instead of being happy she turned to the other side of the hut and hot flashes of tears flowed down her cheeks. "This is too much, I must and shall not end in poverty!"she said to herself . After breakfast,Anita's grandmother went to visit one of her childhood friend in the other village. She passed through the valley and crossed a river which separated the two villages. A river that supplied water for household use for all the villagers in the two villages. Anita hastened up and sat under a big mango tree that was in the compound. It provided a serene place as it's shade was so soothing given it was a drought season. Many animals had died as a result and farming was almost impossible as plants didn't do well except for the likes of cassava which are drought resistant. She sat at the shade on a brown wooden stool which had three legs. It was grandma's favorite piece of furniture as she inherited it from her grandmother when she was still a young girl. Grandma would be heard everytime referring to it as " antique"to "ancient" Anita was always surprised. It provided enough comfort as she knitted her scarf. At around three o'clock in the evening, Anita saw the chief with other members of the village coming towards their compound. She was confused but wasn't sure of what was going on. The chief arrived with super fantastic news to Anita and her grandmother . She had been selected as the best candidate for scholarship to study abroad ! Anita was amazed her eyes flooded with tears as she received these news . She had always dreamt of becoming a neurosurgeon and as a woman and coming from a humble background, life had been so tough on her but finally she had beat all obstacles. One lady officer helped Anita fill in the scholarship forms correctly and guided her on the needed documents. 'The sun seem to have rosen early as the birds continued with their melodies . Anita had not slept well as she was just day dreaming about her journey to the United States .She had arranged all her clothes and stationery needed. Grandma spent the rest of the days preparing dried vegetables for her granddaughter to carry. The saying that being far away from home makes you home sick and miss the exotic delicacies . Anita's grandmother was sure to avoid such an incident. Anita's friends and relatives came over to bade her farewell. All types of delicacies and meals were cooked. Anita received lots of presents that she had never received in her whole life. As in traditional African setting , it's believed the more you give the more you receive . Hence Anita was showered with every kind of gift from cattle, goats, chicken among others. Peep!peep! The taxi man was already waiting at the entrance to grandma's hut. 'amen , go blessed my granddaughter and keep working hard' these were grandmother's words many years ago as Anita was heading to the airport . Now sitted at her office looking at her graduation picture hanging on the wall, she's a renowned neurosurgeon with a high rank. She is engaged with offering mentorship to girls and young ladies aspiring to take on any career no matter the difficulties they go through especially from the third world countries . Anita believes nothing is impossible , she did it and is proud of herself because she never dissapointed her young self she walked with her dream until she achieved it!!!

comments button 3 report button

Newsletter

Subscribe and stay tuned.

Popular Biopages

Jane Doe

Aspiring writer, budding linguist.

Cape Town, South Africa