Being the only girl among boys, Mary was denied a chance to go to school. Every time her brothers dressed up to go to school, she could weep bitterly, wanting to go as well.
But her father could confine her home. She fought for it, but her father was radical about her going to school. So, she gave up on it. She was taken to cattle camp to keep cattle. One time, a cow stepped on Mary’s foot and injured it badly. She sustained an open wound on the dorsum of her left foot. Unfortunately, there were no hospitals in the nearby village. Not even a single pharmacy was opened in the entire village.
So, Mary’s father had to travel to town to buy drugs for her medication. Early in the morning, Mary’s father went his way to town. It was a 6-hour journey to reach the town. And to make matters worse, he was footing. His intention was to return to the cattle camp that same day to save Mary. She was in great agony. But on his way back with drugs, Mary’s father developed a headache and certainly, and he collapsed. No one came to his rescue. He was restless, throwing his legs and arms anyhow. Time passed by and nobody showed up to help him. By the grace of God, he gained consciousness, but was too weak to rise up and foot home. So, he remained where he collapsed. The sun was setting and Mary’s father was still weak to walk home.
Fortunately, an NGO car arrived and the driver saw him seated along the road. But because an authorised person could not be picked up, the driver tried to bypass Mary’s father. But a woman who was in charge of the mission stopped the car and climbed down. She said if the car could not pick Mary’s father up, she would not enter the car. That sparked a debate among the NGO staff who were on board. Some said they had to comply with what the policy tells them. Others said they could not be that inhumane to leave a sick person in the bush, what if the wild animals kill him? That was the debate.
Mary’s father could follow the debate by looking at this person’s eyes and that person’s. So, he couldn’t understand anything as they were talking in English language. The woman took the risk by picking him up and taking him where he was going to. Mary then got rescued. She received her medications and became fully recovered. Mary’s father then changed his mind. He apologised to Mary and allowed her to go to school. When asked, he told Mary a story of a woman who helped him on his way home when he collapsed and became unconscious. He said women are more sympathetic than men. When they are empowered, they can change the world.
Mary then enrolled in school. She was a bit older than any student in her class. She was being bullied for her height amongst children. But she never took the bullying personally. She was always the best student in class and that increased her bullying enormously. Her classmates could accuse her of a love affair with teachers. But Mary was a resilient girl. She could not take anything personally. She continued being the best student in every class. This proved to other students that she was purely clever. Her being the best student had nothing to do with a love affair with teachers.
When Mary sat for her primary leaving certificate examination, she became the best student nationwide. She brought an honour to her parents and herself. A ceremony was organised in her former school to celebrate her satisfactory results. Her parents were invited to attend the ceremony. In the ceremony, messages were sent to all the parents to allow girls to go to school. Mary’s father was given a chance to give a testimony. He narrated the story that made him change his mind and allow Mary to go to school. Everyone became amazed at the story. One of the invited guests became so happy with Mary’s academic records and promised to sponsor her. He sponsored her secondary education until the end. When Mary sat for her senior 4 examinations, she passed it with flying colours. She was having 86% in Arts section.
She was admitted to Law school to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Law. Four years later, she graduated and became a lawyer. While a practicing lawyer, an opportunity knocked on the door of her community. Her community was asked to nominate a female representative to go to the parliament. Members of her community never hesitated to nominate. They nominated Mary to represent them in the parliament. Mary then became a member of parliament, chairing a specialized committee on legal affairs. It is rumoured that she is too potential to become the Speaker of the House in future. Denying girl child education should not only be forgotten but should also be forbidden. Girls are a rate-limiting catalyst for change. As the world yearns for change, it would be much easier if girls go this way and boys go that way to bring change. The culture of making girls as kitcheners should be abolished. That culture should be abolished for good.