ICED FLAMES
The Northeast trade winds have a chilly effect at night and is characterized by a very dry humid weather condition. Everybody hates this time of the year in West Africa but they had measures for coping. I had nothing but this faded long sleeved shirt as the only clothing protecting me from the chill as I stared at the endless black expanse under the colossal post office building's foyer in the country's capital city.
I don't go to school but I know how to read basic things. I learnt how to read from the public school nearby where I was supposed to be enrolling. I am not an actual student, I hide behind their windows and listen to the lessons because I will not be able to get a proper education. Running away from child marriage was my only escape from a tyrannical livelihood.
My name is Haleemat from the Savannah Region, I am a head potter in Accra. Business here is lucrative but for a child like me, all I end up with at the end of the day is just a pittance because I get robbed frequently.
My dream is to know more about ocean life ever since I set my eyes on the waves of the sea. It amazed me since I had never seen anything like it from my village. There was this girl, she was in Junior high school and usually came to the market with her mother to the fishmonger I worked for late in the mornings. She always had a pocket sized book handy, it contained pictures of sea life and whiles her mother bargained with my boss, she would call out some of the words to me.
She would laugh whenever I mispronounced a word. Sometimes I would also laugh too but soon, she left for Senior high school and I was back to this life again.
I let out a wheezy cough indicating my throat was parched. I reached out for the sachet of water under the black plastic bag containing my belongings and bit off one side before drinking its content.
I know how to write too but my handwriting is barely illegible. If l get enough money one day, I'll go to school.
My eyes began to feel heavy and l fell asleep.
On the streets, you would have to be up by 5:00am before the owners of the shops you sleep in front of come to see you. I didn't have a watch but the number of cars passing by let me know it was time. At 5:00am, the number of cars begin to multiply.
I then pack up my things and take out a chewing stick from my plastic bag and put it in my mouth to chew. In the early parts of the morning, people usually transport goods from their warehouses to their shops so business booms for us. I took my plastic bag and shoved it into a very secluded corner at the post office before taking my metal bowl and stepping out. I usually took my bath in the afternoons when I had enough money to do so.
Truly, l got the amount I needed but I couldn't go yet. I had to go to work with the fish monger to get money for food and saving for my sick mother back home. My lips were already charped by now. I had some shear butter in my pocket. I carried it in a plastic bag. I applied a portion of it and moved on to my next job. She had me arrange the newspapers she would be needing in packaging her smoked fish.
As l arranged them into a neat stack, a bold bulleting crossed my eye and I picked up the newspaper with the bold bulleting to read. There was a story writing competition. It was to end in a week's time. Maybe this was it, l can write a story and win the money, but I will need help.
Having been a consistent audience to the public school's basic five English teacher, l knew the most intelligent girl in the class and I decided to try talking her into helping me do this. I didn't have an address, neither did I have a school and class to register from so, she would have to help me write it and post it in her name.
When I approached her, she didn't take me seriously because of my appearance but when I showed her the sheet of newspaper with the information and offered her twenty percent of the cash prize, she agreed.
Everyday after school, I would meet up with her and she would help me with the grammar and some vocabularies she had picked up from books she read from the public library. In three days, we had already written the story. The plot was mine but most of the grammar and vocabulary were all hers. She later sent it to her English teacher for proofreading before mailing it to the said address.
I didn't know if we would be picked but it was exciting to know that I had tried something new. It wasn't about being the best to me, it was about being better than I was yesterday. I had learnt new words and constructed proper sentences, that was an achievement!
We didn't win first place, but success was on our side in picking up the position of second runner-up.
The sponsors wanted to know the brain behind it and summoned the girl. She let them know that she wasn't the only brain behind it and led them to my workplace. They found me at the fishmonger's place and explained to me the terms and magnitude of the prize. I hadn't just won the money, but a scholarship as well.
I could finally have my life on track. I can go to school now, get good grades and a well paying job in the near future! All I needed was hard work and perseverance, I am going to make sure to do just so. I have to prove to my family back in my village that a girl child has more to achieve in life than early marriage and childbirth. I could be a success and role model to girls here and over there too.
