TREATED LIKE A NOBODY
I was born into this world on the 31st day of August 1987. Mum had been looking for a child for a long time but was always having a miscarriage. At least she had had three miscarriages before I was born so when she was taken to the hospital this time around, most people thought it was a waste of time since the outcome was always a miscarriage. This time they were wrong, a child had been born and it was a boy. There was great rejoicing, dad could not stop telling mum how much he loved her and everyone was in a happy mood. I had just been brought into a world of so much wickedness, I could see happy and smiling faces around me but some how I knew those expressions were not genuine. If only they had known that their euphoric mood would last no longer than it began. The doctor had just told dad that my nervous system was not properly developed and so I would be having mental issues at various intervals. Oh! How fast sadness fell on everyone.
Five years after my birth, I was sent to school. Mum had given birth to my younger sister, she was perfectly healthy and at that moment everything changed. All the affection and care they had for me disappeared, sometimes they even forgot to pick me up from school. I thought I understood what was on ground, that they had to take care of my younger sister but ten years after her birth, nothing changed. One day years later, dad called a family meeting and told me I had to drop out of school, according to him I was wasting his money but I was not that bad. Academically, I was a little above average and in terms of relating with others, I was doing fine but I could not object so I stopped school. I did all the chores at home, took care of my younger ones, and washed everyone’s cloth and daddy’s cars.
My own parents treated me like trash, my siblings treated me like an outsider because dad and mum did not tell them I was their sibling. Neighbors and outsiders did not treat me any different. When I talked with my peers they laughed at me calling me a fool. There was so much discrimination and so much loneliness in my heart that most time I felt like there was nothing worth living for.
Today, I bring these questions before you my dear readers. Is it my fault that I was born this way, what is my plight, what crime did I commit? God created me the way he created everyone else then why am I being treated this way? So are you a stammerer, an albino, are you deaf, dumb, blind or lame, do you have any physical disability, have you been thought of as a liability, a person of no importance, have you been treated like a nobody? Be confident in yourself, believe in God, he loves you and sees your importance to the world. Do not let what others say affect you just look deep into yourself and you will find that treasure that distinguishes you from every other person. You are destined to be great so believe in yourself.
Written by: Onyinye Mbata
