Blandine

Thank you for sharing this powerful story with us. Could you tell us about what inspired you to write it? I chose to write what I am going through as a young girl to archive my goals and experiences. I hope my readers will take a good message from it. I would also like to share my story with those who live lives such as mine. This life is painful, but we should not give up even if we pass through many difficult things. We must stand up and show those who ignore the poor that even the poor are important and they deserve a better life. What messages do you hope your readers will take away from your story? I hope my readers learn how to be nice to poor people because not everyone is rich and we all have ups and downs but poor people suffer the most. I hope they will know how children who are in poor families suffer and how they can be ignored. What, from your perspective, is the point of storytelling? Why do we tell stories, what do they do for us, and what purpose do they serve? I can define storytelling as the way of letting people know what is going on, what was in the past or will be in the future. I tell stories to make people know things that they were not knowing. Stories show how we are unique. The writing and telling of stories helps us to develop skills. Did your story change over the course of your participation in the storytelling workshops? How? It changed some. I was advised to modify some paragraphs by my peer reviewer which was helpful to me. As a writer, I have grown in unique ways. I can now define storytelling and writing more clearly, and I have also learned how to express my feelings more effectively. How does your story offer an alternative path, point of view, or way forward? How does it speak to the possibility of an otherwise? I look forward to seeing children from underprivileged backgrounds being treated with the same respect and care as children from wealthier families. Poor girls, in particular, deserve to be respected just as boys are. Boys should not assume that girls from poorer backgrounds deserve less. It is essential to understand that everyone deserves equal treatment and respect.

Sophia Kaushik is a high school student from California who is passionate about literature and writing. Sophia has been writing poetry and short fiction for as long as she can remember and has had her work published in a number of literary journals. She is a book review writer for her school newspaper and a founder of her school’s poetry club. Outside of school, Sophia studies classical voice and sings at recitals, charitable concerts, and competitions. She also volunteers as a middle-school tutor in reading comprehension and math. Sophia is a strong believer in the power of the written word and the endless possibilities that come with literacy. Participating in the Sociality of the Story Refugee Project as a peer reviewer has been a transformative experience for Sophia, as it has reinforced her belief that storytelling has no boundaries and can unite us in our shared human experiences. Sophia’s favorite part of participating in the project has been meeting and getting to know Blandine Mulenga through the peer review process and during the final interview. Sophia feels privileged to have had the opportunity to help Blandine tell her story.

I was sitting at home with my mother one Friday morning when my phone rang.   “Blandine, can you come over? I want to talk to you,” said the voice on the other end of the line.  It was my friend Sarah.   I was finished with my chores and my mother gave me permission to go.  Sarah lives in Kashojwa, near Best Future School. We live in different areas of Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda. As I made my way down the path I met my father. I told him I was going to visit Sarah and he gave me two thousand Ugandan shillings to take the boda-boda.   When I reached Sarah’s house, I found her mother washing clothes. She was wearing a black dress. When I arrived, I knocked on the door and tried to greet her, but she ignored me.   Instead, she asked me, “What do you want?” without looking in my direction.   I told her, “I’m here to see my Sarah.”   “Your friend Sarah is my daughter?” she asked.  I said yes.   Instead of going to get Sarah, she told me, “I do not want to see you with my daughter.” When I asked her why, she simply said, “because your family is poor.”  After hearing her words, I called Sarah. She was around the corner, dressed in a black skirt and red t-shirt. When I told her what her mother said, Sarah told me, “I know you respect elders. But my mother is sad now and does not think much.”  I said, “Sarah, when a person says things that she has never talked about, she is only looking for a way so that she may talk. Let us do what your mother said. She does not want to see us together because I am from a poor family. Let us leave our friendship because we need to do what your mother wants. Let us not force it.”   Sarah and I agreed to respect her mother’s wish to not see us together.   But I went home unhappy because of the words the woman said to me. I felt sad that she called me poor. I went home wondering how some parents can ignore the children who come from poor families; especially here in Nakivale Refugee Camp where so many of us have so little.    The following day I went to school. I wanted to play with other students but they kept getting away from me. It seemed they felt the same way as Sarah’s mother. They had made their mind up and did not want to be my friend. All because I was from a poor family,  It was a cause of physical pain for me to find I was being ignored, unwanted.   I found street boys trying to disturb me because they knew my family was poor and in need of money.   I had problems with my vision and my parents did not have money for my treatment. I could not read or write on the blackboard and my classmates used to tell me that I was disturbing them by asking them for books so that I could copy them.   I decided to talk to my mother.   After a day filled with mopping, washing, cooking, taking care of my younger brother and visiting my older brother in the hospital, I found my mother and said to her, “mother, do you have time?”    “No problem , my daughter. I am free to talk, do not fear anything.”   “Mother, you know I’m a girl and I need many things, but without advice I will not know what to do.”   I told my mother about what Sarah’s mother said and the pain I was suffering at school.    “My daughter, I know how you are feeling because those words are painful, but you need to move on with your life. You should just ignore those children and not listen to them any longer.”   “I am your daughter and I know your advice will help me, but some rich parents do not want to see their children with poor children like me.”   “My daughter, as your mother, I would like to tell you this: respect them. Keep that respect for them and do not stop showing them respect even if they call you bad words, like poor.”   “Mother, to keep respecting people who do not want me is not easy. I feel unloved when I sit with other youths because I know they will laugh at me.”    “My daughter, they will not stop laughing at you even if you go far from them. You must find the way within yourself, to stop feeling unloved and put confidence in yourself. And then let them laugh. They have decided to laugh at you. But me, as your mother, I know one day they will stop laughing at you because of your success, and because you work hard. Do not listen to their words.”  I try everyday to live by my mother’s words.     This story was peer reviewed by: Sophia Kaushik