A story of desperation, defeats and triumph
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"I would like to extend my gratitude to Madhu Kumar for the work that she has done. Madhu’s ability to capture, and bring to life the heart of my story through this painting is astounding. Her work has truly brought me joy, my heart has smiled from the moment she unveiled it before my eyes for the first time."
I immigrated to Saskatchewan in October of 1992. It was winter and the snow was very heavy and I didn't understand what it was when I looked at it. Everything was a new experience because even though I had studied in school about snow I didn't quite understand how snow would feel like. The whole city was covered in snow and you couldn’t see the rooftops or the tree trunks. It was quite a drastic experience, I was in shock.
My story began in Uganda in 1965. I was in a family of 13 children. My dad was a general in the army and he was a polygamist. He had three different wives and I was a child from his second wife. Everything in my home was based on a military style of upbringing so everything was done in an organized way. We were raised as a community and there was no segregation between children and mothers.
That all changed when my dad died after the war of Idi Amin in 1982, in which he had served honorably. We began to see the resentment between the mothers that had built up over the years and it was very difficult for us to experience as children. We lived through it with the support of each other and help of other family members. I had an aunt in Nairobi, Kenya, who supported myself and my siblings through school.
When I finished school, I dreamed of being a lawyer so that I could give voice to the women who were dying in silence. I wanted to go to university but my auntie couldn’t afford it so I ended up moving to live with her in Kenya to escape the pressure of being married at a young age in Uganda.
I was relieved, but I was also scared because I didn’t have a Kenyan ID and I had to spend a lot of time in hiding so the police didn’t catch me.
One day, I went to the market with a friend and ended up being kidnapped by a man who was supposed to be her uncle. I was raped for a period of 6 months straight and ended up becoming pregnant. I was able to escape back to my auntie but eventually ended up back with that man because he was getting a Canada visa and my family voted that it was the best decision for the future of my child.
When I came to Canada, I realized that this was a new country with new rules so I focused on how laws worked and learned that I could do something if someone forced themselves on me. I ended up leaving my husband, with whom I had had three children, filing for divorce, and going on to raise my children on my own.
I did all I could to raise my children to become who they are today. I can’t regret coming here. This country has given me an opportunity to be who I am today; I am very thankful and appreciate everything. The things I have today is because Canada opened its doors to me and if they hadn’t I maybe wouldn’t be alive today.
The only thing I can say is that nothing in life comes easy as we all know. We have to work hard for everything as long as we are willing to wake up every day knowing that, nothing in life comes easy. Look at life in a positive way, take one day at a time, and believe in yourself. Above all, keep your smile on, it goes along way!