Redempta Mbugua-Njui was only 18, when she was raped by a gang of thugs who had attacked her parents’ home soon after her dad’s burial.
“The thugs terrorised us and the worst part is that they raped me and left me for dead. I was taken to hospital, but little did we know that I had already conceived,” says Redemptaorn who was born in the little village of Riagithu in Ngewa Ward, Kiambu county in a family of 12 siblings.
Redempta who had just completed her secondary education got a job as a cashier at her brother-in-law’s business. “I saved money to buy clothes for my baby and kept aside some money that I would pay for maternity services. I never wanted to be a bother to anyone,” she says.
Meningitis attack
On December 19, 1999, Redempta welcomed a baby boy and named him Mbugua after her late dad. “I promised myself not to hate him. When the baby turned four months, I was to join the University of Nairobi to pursue law degree, but it never came to be. He fell sick and would get fevers and convulsions. We rushed him to a local clinic where he was examined and we were referred to Thika Hospital where the baby was admitted and treated. On the same night, the doctor pronounced that the baby had a meningitis attack, which would either cause his death or leave him physically and mentally challenged. He ended up with cerebral palsy,” she explains.
The news came as a shock for the young mother and all she could do was cry. She sought further treatment at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) where she and her baby spent a whole year. She opines: “At KNH, life was hard in the children’s ward. They would only offer a baby cot, but for the parents, you had to take care of your sleeping needs. I would borrow cartons from the pharmacy and use them as my mattress, then cover myself with baby’s blanket. Since I could not afford diapers, I would wash napkins and hang them outside, and at times I would find them all stolen. Some nurses would insult me for giving birth at my teenage; little did they know what I was going through.”
Even after the baby was discharged from hospital, he would still experience fevers and be re-admitted again. “Sometimes, we would be discharged and on reaching the bus station; the baby would get seizures and convulsions and we would go back to the ward. It was tough for me, but through the grace of God and support from my family, I made it through,” Redempta shares.
In August 2001 when the baby stabilised, her mother and elder brother opted to take her to a college, which was offering office practice courses, book keeping and accounts. “I enrolled in the institution and started my academic journey. I was a student during the day, and in the evening I would go home to look after my baby. It was tough being a teenage mum, but I got all the support that I needed,” she notes.
