Month: August 2024

CAUTION: Easy money doesn’t pay

I am a 38-year-old woman, born in Kampala, Uganda. My father had six children with my stepmother, and nine children with my mother. My siblings and I are not close, nor were they close to my mother.

Our family situation was not favorable and we lacked everything. My father was a government army soldier with a modest income that barely covered our household expenses. From an early age, I understood that I had to work hard to survive.

I was in Form 4 in high school when our father disappeared and left us without income. We did not know why or where he had gone. Even the army was looking for him. We were left destitute.

One day, I decided to run away from home due to the tough conditions we were facing. I was separated from my family for seven years without them knowing my whereabouts. By the time I returned, I had missed most of my middle school years.

Continue reading CAUTION: Easy money doesn’t pay

No second-chance for second-hand businessman

I was a businessman working out of Lagos. I had opened a second-hand electronic appliances shop selling laptops, printing machines, photocopy machines, etc. I had traveled to Hong Kong many times to source these second-hand electrical appliances.

But my business faced a downturn because of the pandemic. I had to close down my shop but I owed creditors and did not have any means to settle the debts.

When I was arrested and sent to jail, I could not sleep and I kept on asking myself: How could I have been so stupid as to turn to swallowing drugs for trafficking knowing very well it is illegal and doing so came at great risk?

My creditor told me I could pay back my loan and also earn some money if I agreed to deliver goods to Hong Kong for his Argentine friend. I was told his friend could pay my debts and in addition, US$2,000 if I agreed to deliver drugs to Hong Kong. Continue reading No second-chance for second-hand businessman

Don’t be next

Dear someone, open your eyes and ears and say no to being the next victim of drug trafficking or abuse.

I reach out to you with love and care. I don’t know you, and I don’t wish to meet you under such circumstances. He who has an ear will listen, and my words will be like a seed falling on fertile soil. When life is falling apart, nothing seems easy, and Plan A and B aren’t working, questions flood your mind. When happiness distances itself, and most of your peers are succeeding while you feel left out, never agree to drugs, whether it’s abuse or trafficking.

Saying NO is the path to freedom. There are people out there, like hyenas and scavengers, looking for someone like you to prey on. A life of drugs always ends behind bars.

Continue reading Don’t be next

The life of a young woman behind bars

No one wishes to live behind bars. No matter how long you spend here, being away from the world still hurts. Mornings are full of sadness and sorrow. At home, morning routines depend on your mood; here, every minute of the day and my tasks are already planned for me. There is a fixed time for waking up, refreshing, and having breakfast.

Having all meals of the day hurts more, not knowing if my family had even a single meal, especially my son.

Checking on their well-being once a month is always emotional. Hearing their voices and sensing the sadness in their tone, I immediately break down. Thinking that my son will grow up without a mother next to him, the way I did, is painful. Losing a parent is a hard experience that an innocent child should never endure. Now that I’m here for only God knows how long, I feel I have failed him as a parent. I will never be able to turn back time; no amount of money is worth the time passed.

Continue reading The life of a young woman behind bars