She suffered for us – Children build beautiful house for their mum as 52nd birthday gift

A Kenyan woman has been appreciated by her children who built her a beautiful house as her 52nd birthday present.

The woman suffered so much to raise her kids as shared by one of her children, Brenda Mulama.

Taking to Twitter, Brenda said they were able to build their mother a beautiful bungalow The planning and completion all occurred within two years.

According to the lady, her mum worked hard, sweating to feed them with her little salary earned from casual work.

Sharing photos, she wrote;

”My mom turns 52 today.

The below was our 50th birthday present for her. We began the project when she turned 50 and completed it in December 2021.

This social change is just but a testimony of what education can do.

I am the firstborn to my mother. She gave birth to me while a teenager. Her mom technically forced the daughter to get married as the circumstances in which she became pregnant were not a factor. Having been a single mom in the 70s and 80s and strongly criticized and judged, marriage was the only answer for the teenage daughter. In her social realities, an act of love. Thus, mom was a baby with a baby and married.

Let me take you back a little. My paternal side could not just accept a girl from a single parent for their son. After role, they said they are not even sure the child is ‘theirs’ (In Western Kenya children belong to the community). Therefore, mom was kept in waiting until I was born for them to ascertain if their blood run in my veins or not. My umbilical cord was buried in my grandfather’s compound after a few traditional processes. If I wasn’t my father’s child, I was to die in 7days. I didn’t. That is when my grandmother named me after her mom: Ayako, as a sign of acceptance. A girl was born-

Life was tough!

Mom was a casual labourer at Kakuzi Limited Nandi-hills. Her salary was mostly around Ksh. 3,000 (N10,000) and when she has worked overtime around Ksh. 4,500 (N16,000). We ate ‘matumbo’ once a month on salary day to have a taste of meat heheee… During school holidays and Saturdays I had to pluck tea leaves to make some extra cash. The first time I went for my pay from the person I was working for, I found that mom had already taken the few hundreds on my behalf. My first response was ‘shock’. My thoughts; ‘I have worked for this at least I should plan for it!’ It took me so many years to reflect and understand how sad her situation was and how much she was trying to give my siblings and me the best she could as dad was hardly around.

By the grace of God, I was the first girl in my primary school after class8 and won a bursary from Kakuzi Limited that covered about half of my high school fees making it manageable.

Fast forward, it has been a journey of sweat, tears, and character development!

Despite her having dropped out of school, soon I will be presenting Dr. Brenda not just for me but her too.

Many may not understand why sometimes I celebrate every little change so loudly. It is because I understand firsthand what it means to be given an opportunity, to receive that re-washable sanitary towel donation, to receive a pair of shoes as a gift, to have a toothbrush for the first time when getting admitted to form 1 because it is a school requirement, to remind myself that finishing schooling and exploring opportunities is possible even though every other girl was getting married before 16. To hold on to hope and see the world in a different light.

Cheers, to change.

Happy birthday, Mom!”