adminShe reaches for her purse and takes a few US$20 notes and hand them over to a man sitting across the table. The man snatches the money from her and slowly counts it with his tobacco-stained hands.
He lifts up his bloodshot eyes and puffs away cigarette smoke in her direction before telling her that it’s enough and she can now leave.
She struggles to get on her feet and somehow manages to walk the 30-minute trip back to college although it would have taken her 15 minutes had it not been for the many stops she had taken as a result of the excruciating pain wracking her body.
As she approaches the ladies hostel she suddenly feels dizzy, the pain increases and her legs fail her, she only manages to let out a cry before she blacks out.
When she gains consciousness, she finds herself surrounded by humming machines and as she realises she is in hospital, events of the past few hours replay in her head and it dawns on her what a terrible mistake she has made, what shame she has brought not only on herself but her family as well.
Meet Ruvimbo, a 19-year-old first-year Electrical Engineering student at one of the country’s State universities.
Having travelled 380km from her home town to study, and being the first born in a family of four and the only girl, Ruvimbo is both the hope and pride of her parents.
Coming to the big city had been a dream come true for the teenage girl after having done exceptionally well in her A-Level examinations.
And to add to it all she had been accepted to study in a faculty dominated by men which took an above average student to make it. Being one of the only two female students in her department, Ruvimbo was determined that come what may she would pass with distinctions so that she could do away with the general belief back home that a woman’s place was in the kitchen.
The first few weeks at college were exciting and a whole new experience for her because she had an opportunity to meet new people and go around the city during her free time and she was also performing exceptionally well in her studies.
However, the challenge came in one day as she was working on an assignment in class when a lecturer in one of her favourite subjects approached her.
Since most of the other students who were non-residents had left for home, she had taken the chance to start on her assignment which she would complete later on in the evening at the college’s main library.
Naturally, because he taught her favourite subject, Ruvimbo had an element of liking and respecting for the man and that is why she was not surprised when he brought her a small gift saying he was pleased with her performance in his subject.
Neither did Ruvimbo suspect anything when the lecturer started passing her some comments and complementing her every time he came for the lecture or when they met in the corridors.
But the huge blow came one day when the lecturer called her to his office and told her that he liked her and wanted her to do some sexual favours for him in return for good grades. At first she did not understand him but as soon as she realised what he was pointing to she told him that she could not do it because it was against her beliefs and her principles.
She even went as far as threatening to expose him to her colleagues. That, however, did not deter him because instead he told Ruvimbo that she would fail her programme if she refused to give in.
This was particularly hard for the young woman to stomach and over the following weeks the lecturer became hostile towards her, sending her out of his lesson for very minor matters. But the worst of them all was failing her an in class test which she had studied well into the night and over the weekend for claiming that her answers were irrelevant to the question.
She tried at one point to seek advice from her roommate who unfortunately because she had loose morals, told her that everyone around campus was doing the same and if she did not consent she would fail.
This really disturbed Ruvimbo because failing her programme would mean that she would go back home without her degree and it meant that her chances of a successful career would be shattered.
She spent a lot of sleepless nights and was so depressed that the next time she was summoned to the lecturer’s office, she gave in to his demands.
Thus began her sexual relationship with the lecturer. They would meet after school in his office after all the other students had gone home and although she did not want this relationship, there was not much she could do because the lecturer was more influential and powerful.
Only two months into the dreadful “relationship’’, she discovered that she was pregnant and when she approached the lecturer he denied any association with the pregnancy and went as far as telling her that he would “facilitate” her expulsion if she ever mentioned his name.
Seeing how powerful the man was Ruvimbo realised that there was no way she could beat him to it and once again turned to her “wise’’ friend for advice. But what she was told shocked the life out of her because her dear friend actually, casually and fearlessly suggested abortion. That was the last straw for Ruvimbo, I mean not only would it put her own life at risk and possible arrest, it was also cold blood murder, and where she came from it was unacceptable, unheard of, a taboo.
The following several days she spent in her room, cried endlessly and skipped lecturers until she finally decided that if she kept the baby then there would be no hope for an education and she also stood to be disowned by her family. With the baby’s father having denied responsibility, her next best option was none other abortion. She proceeded to present her case to her friend who gladly referred her to a “good doctor” who would perform it after hours but for a fee and this resulted in her opting for unsafe abortion
As she lies on her hospital bed she recalls her mother’s words as she prepared to leave home for school a few months back. “My daughter, we have invested in you and we want you to have a bright future, your education should be your first husband, please do not follow the ways of the city, focus on your studies and bring your degree home.”
Fresh tears well from her eyes as she remembers these words.
Agness Tembo Sande is a guest writer who can be contacted at [email protected]. Cell: 0775 631 623
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