By: proudlymimi.near
Mimi
It was bright new day! Marmaj rose up from her bed and yawned lazily, and suddenly she remembered what was happening today and a sweet smile came on her lips. Today, she would be commissioning her new project, something she had always dreamt of doing. She had just built a new school for her community and today was its inauguration.
Her community had never owned a school before. She came from a poor community and only those who were privileged could attend school in the neighboring community. Until now. As she got ready, Marmaj reminisced on the journey.
20 years ago…
It was the summer, and the air was sweet. Although Marmaj liked the greenness of the grass and the calmness of the sea, she hated fishing. She made the best of it however, and seemed to love the weather that day because papa (Mr. James) wasn’t around. He had gone for a village meeting that came up every end of the month.
Mr James had lost his wife during her second child birth. It was said that the village Doctor had given her poison instead of sleeping medicine before the child birth. Both his wife and the child died, and this made Marmaj’s father full of sorrow and frustration.
As soon as he came back from the meeting with the elders of the village, Marmaj had prepared a very sumptuous bitter leaf soup together with pounded yam. She had learnt how to cook from her father since her mother died when she was just three years old. Although it was very difficult growing up without her mother, one thing was certain: Mr James made sure she never lacked in anything except education. Marmaj had always wanted to go school, but they had no school in her community and she was told that only those in the city were able to go to school.
After eating the soup, the two went to sleep. The next morning, her father seemed to be in a terrible humour. He was so angry. Marmaj noticed this but was scared of asking him what was wrong. After some time, she took courage and asked papa what was wrong. He told her his bad humour was because today was 12 years since he had lost his precious wife and his unborn son. He cried as he told MarmaJ that he had promised his wife a good life in the city. He said, “Marmaj my daughter, your mother and I wanted the best for you and your brother, we had in mind sending you to the best school in the city, but because of that useless village doctor I lost the only source of joy I had in this world.” He looked at her and smiled, “Well, not the only source.” They hugged. This melted her heart and she immediately she burst into tears. They both cried their eyes out and couldn’t console each other. Her father decided to take her to her mother’s grave.
A heavy wind was blowing, a dark storm was coming, and yet Marmaj couldn’t stop crying on her mother’s grave. She kept on asking her why she had left her and papa in this world. MarmaJ realized that life was precious and short. She decided to use her life for something bigger than herself. That very day, Marmaj made a vow that she was going to build a school for her community when she was financially fit. After visiting the grave, Papa had to nearly carry her home. When they got home, papa and Marmaj were not hungry. They headed straight to bed, but they couldn’t sleep. Papa was thinking of how much MarmaJ wanted to go to school and he decided would help Marmaj go to school in the city. Marmaj slept in fits and dreamed of how she would go to school and build a school for her community.
Soon, luck shined on Marmaj. Mr Jude, her father’s friend, came to the village and he and Mr James got talking and Mr James told him of how pained he was that Marmaj couldn’t go to school, Mr James promised to sponsor Marmaj through school till the end of her schooling.
That’s how Marmaj was able to go school and grow into her potential.
Twenty years later, Marmaj came back to her community to fulfill her vow.