Mwape P. Malubeni - Ready for first swim lesson.
This little 11-year-old girl arrived to Vima Lupwa home extremely malnourished and neglected. She came to us through the social-welfare office after it was discovered by a local clinic that she was being sexually abused by her father. When just 3 months old she was diagnosed with Cerebral Malaria which caused a slight mental handicap.
She also suffers from epilepsy. Since she had seizures the men in her community thought she was mentally handicapped and took advantage of her. She has never had healthy interactions with people. It is difficult to get any information from her because she was never taught that rape was wrong, but rather that it was part of everyday life. So far she has told us about 4 different men that would take her into the forest to rape her. The way she describes it is very violent.
More stories are coming as she feels safer in our home. She is making improvements every day: we were able to put her on medicine for her seizures, from which she was suffering up to three times a day. They have now decreased to about once or twice a week, a major improvement indeed!
Since the decrease in her seizures she has been accepted to attend Muchinshi Basic School where she is attending kindergarten. Her school report states that although she is a slow learner, she is trying her best. Never having gone to school before, she is learning the daily obligation of washing, getting dressed and attending classes. This has not been easy for her either, as she does not speak any English, which is a language taught, nor does she speak much Bemba. Despite the language barriers, she is learning the languages rapidly and has full conversations while giggling all the time. She participates in the nightly routine of singing and clapping songs while dancing around the room with the other children. She has so much joy and hope. BACK to Biographies