Delcy Ng'ang'a: From the dustheap of life, I’m back to make you proud mum

At 32, one strong, resilient, beautiful and caring woman brings a little soul into a world full of unknowns.

And from the moment she holds her delicate little girl in her arms, she immediately knows her baby is a gem.

Twenty years later, the baby girl is now a beautiful, melanin blessed, smart and fun young lady.

I was brought up with the usual ups and downs of life but my single mum protected me from every slap the world threw our way. Back then I knew she was perfect. She was so put together that little me could never imagine her ever making a mistake.

As I grew, I got to understand that no one's prefect; not even my mum. And this was just one of the many slaps the world had to hit me with. As you guessed, it hit me hard.

I was now getting into teenage hood and it started to feel like life was more than determined to crush me bone by bone until I was nothing but dust.

I had to move to a new environment, where I knew no one, and mama was no longer there to take the hit for me. Dealing with failing to top my class sounds like a piece of cake, but to me it meant everything.

At 15, it sank in my mind that a failure is just another stepping stone to success. I finally complete my high school and got accepted to university. This is where things went crazy. Boys, partying, “glowing up”, alcohol, sex—the beat was becoming a bit too fast for me to keep up. I was only 19.

Then life generously gave me a slap right in the face, again. This time, I managed to disappoint the only person who has ever been on my side. Crushed her joy, crushed her hope and lost her trust. Now I had to make things right. In more than one way, I strived to make her proud again.

No mother deserves the kind of pain I inflicted on mine but nonetheless I still did.

By changing how I lived and how I related with her, I was finally able to free myself from all the pain and disappointment.

On October 5, I turned 20. I’m now ready to face life and let myself shine like the gem I am.

Delcy,20, studies at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. Are you aged 10-20 and would like to be Nation’s young reporter? Email your 400-600-word article to [email protected]