admin
My name is Lucía, and this is the story of how pain turned into purpose. At 17, I became pregnant by my classmate Nonso Okoye. His wealthy family sent him abroad, leaving me alone. My mother rejected me, and I survived by washing clothes and selling fruit. Under a mango tree, I gave birth to my son, Chidera. For nine years I raised him in hardship, until illness took him away.
Years later, in Lagos, I worked as a cleaner in a company. On the seventh floor was Nonso’s office. He did not recognize me. One night I overheard him mock our past. In pain, I wrote him a letter. His sister later came: Nonso had cried and visited our son’s grave.
He opened a school for girls expelled due to pregnancy — “The House of Chidera.” Now I work there, guiding them. I still sweep floors, but with my head high. The dust became seed, and the seed became hope.
