We work most weekends and rarely take leave
We seldom spend time with either our children or spouses
Our sex drives are in reverse gear
We have to constantly prove ourselves at work and beat deadlines
Competition for promotions is ruthless
Our presence at company functions is highly appreciated and noticed
We detest doing it, but we do it because we have to clothe, educate and feed our children
Our job is to serve customers food and drinks
The hours are long and the pay is shameful
The music is always loud and the air foggy with cigarette smoke and fake achievements
Some men, irrespective of their marital statuses, wink at us, request for our mobile phone numbers, tip us, stare at our cleavages, curves and even regularly grab our asses!
We detest doing it, but we do it because we have to clothe, educate and feed our children
Daily we descend on pavements like vultures on carcasses
We risk contracting sore throats because of shouting to woo passers-by to buy the cheap items on offer: garments, cutlery, DVDs, shoes, etc
Shopkeepers complain that we litter the streets after we 'close' shop and also evade paying taxes
Frequently City askaris chase us away, arrest our colleagues, confiscate our stocks and ban us from Nairobi's streets
But tomorrow we will be back not because we like it, but because we have to clothe, educate and feed our children
Our job is to ensure our male employers' compounds are clean and green
But their daughters and wives desire us to make them moan and groan when the coast is clear
We are young, energetic and muscular, and we neither smoke nor drink
These virtues boost our stock prices
Refusing their advances will cost us our jobs
We detest giving in, but we do it because we have to clothe, educate and feed our children
We have basic education but are unemployed and unconnected at high places
We possess business ideas but lack collateral for credit
If we resort to crime we might get lynched, shot dead, imprisoned or hanged
So we pack rubber dinghies and pray we safely cross the Mediterranean and land on Europe's shores where fortunes await us to harvest
We might drown or get caught and deported
But we have to do it because we have to clothe, educate and feed our children
When we informed our boyfriends we were carrying their offspring in our wombs they took off like rockets
Our families worsened our predicaments by chasing us away from our homes for staining their good names
Neither our friends nor relatives wished to assist us or associate with us
And we considered abortion too risky
Despair forced us to hawk sex along the streets, in hotels, brothels...
Some clients are reasonable, use condoms and pay us well
Others want a good time on lean budgets or for free, while others make beastly demands
We risk police harassment or imprisonment or both
We detest doing it, but we do it because we have to clothe, educate and feed our children
We are in charge of government procurement
Every year we decide who wins or loses lucrative tenders
But our salaries are emaciated and morale stillborn
It pains us even more when businessmen and women laugh all the way to the banks
So next time we request you to buy 'lunch' before we favourably examine your bid
We are not doing it because we like it, but because we have to clothe, educate and feed our children too
Before we married our current husbands we were so in love with them
They used to hold our hands whenever and wherever
They used to call us and say, "I love you darling," or "Good night darling"
They used to hold doors for us, pull seats for us, and were generous with money
But once we married them things changed: no more dates, calls, gifts...
And yeah, money suddenly became scarce
Some began emotionally and physically assaulting us, while others began sprinting after other women
We are still life members of these marriages not because we like it, but because we depend on these husbands to clothe, educate and feed our children
Copyright 2007. festus mbuimwe aka wamoronjia
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