Mwende’s seven years of marriage left her with permanent scars in her heart and arms, but she takes pride in her four-year-old son Gift Safari.
Safari, Mwende says, is her greatest joy and the reason for living and fighting life’s challenges.
She says the boy wiped her tears and shame of being insulted and ridiculed as unable to bear children not only by her estranged husband Stephen Ngila but also her in-laws and peers.
[ATTACH=full]359329[/ATTACH]
Mwende with her son Gift Safari outside her house at Kathama village in Mwala, Machakos
“I was abused, insulted, and discriminated against just because I didn’t have a child of my own," she said.
"I was called all sorts of bad names, but God came to my rescue by giving me a child of my own, a baby boy whom I named Gift Safari since he was a gift to me from God. I named him Safari because I came on a long journey and went through lots of challenges and temptations to get him.”
Mwende admitted conceiving Safari out of wedlock. That, she says, was not her wish but out of pressure from the husband, in-laws, and the insults she got from all sorts of people.
She says her son is a confirmation that she did not have a fertility problem. It was her estranged husband who was unable to make her pregnant.
“I urge in-laws not to judge and condemn their sons’ wives for not giving birth. The problems could be with their sons like in my case. Still, that does not warrant insults because it is not a personal choice," she said.
"I went outside my marriage due to pressure to get a child of my own and conceived. Now I have a four-year-old son,” she added.
Mwende, however, declined to reveal the details of her son’s father. She only said that there was a standoff between the man and her ex-husband outside a lodging in Machakos.
[ATTACH=full]359332[/ATTACH]
Jackline Mwende’s abandoned matrimonial home in Matunge village in Mwala, Machakos county,
Ngila had been tipped about her whereabouts by people Mwende claim he tasked to trail her.
Mwende said her son helps her around the house despite being young.
“I have him around. It gives me hope and joy whenever he calls me mummy. I feel happy and send him here and there. He needs to join school like other children but I don’t have money for his school fees,” Mwende said.
Mwende says she leaves everything to God who saved her life since she could be long dead.