I am 45 years old, born in Tanzania in the Mbeya region, Kyela district. In a family of 11 children, I am the 10th child.
I got married when I was 17 years old and was blessed with four children, all of whom are boys. But when I was pregnant with my last child, that is when my life changed until today where I am here in prison. When I was three months pregnant, I went to the hospital to start the antenatal care. When you are pregnant in Tanzania, you must test for HIV. I tested and was found to be infected with the HIV virus.
When I returned home and explained the HIV test results to my husband and asked him to test as well, he angrily refused to get tested saying he is safe and has no infection. Since I was the one infected, I entered this situation on my own, and my life changed. He started drinking heavily and beating me a lot.
One day he told me he had found another woman, they loved each other, so he packed his bags and went to live with her.
I gave birth safely, and the child did not have HIV infection. After struggling for a long time as a single parent with four children depending on me, I ran small businesses to meet my children’s needs, including their school fees. Truly, my life was very hard.
When my youngest child had just reached 6 months, he woke up one day with a swollen hand. I took him to the hospital where he was tested for all diseases and was diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia. Since then, he fell ill every two or four weeks. I have been struggling with him until now he is eight years old living with much suffering.
This is when I met a man named Tony, a native of Tanzania. He told me he would give me a job so I could treat my child, and as a mother, I was very happy. One day he asked me if I had a passport. I told him I have one because long ago I had a clothing store and I used to come to Hong Kong and China to buy clothes to sell in Tanzania.
When I told this to Tony, he was happy and told me there was a “cargo” (drugs) I needed to take to Ghana. I would be given 3,000 dollars.
I was given a bag with a concealed compartment and a plane ticket to Ghana. When I arrived, I was paid the promised money. I returned home and life improved a little because I was able to pay the children’s school fees along with other expenses.
In 2023, I heard that children with sickle cell could undergo a bone marrow transplant so their cells could become normal and they wouldn’t be troubled by pain anymore. Looking at the pain my child is going through is when I found myself looking again for that person who sent me to Ghana. I told them my problems, and they told me I had to go to South Africa to pick up drugs to take to China.
In November 2023 I travelled to South Africa and was masked to swallow the drugs. After I went to China and was given the money I decided to open a bakery upon my return.
Life continued, but my child’s treatment became increasingly difficult because of the substantial financial burden. In 2024 I traveled to China again, and was then instructed to go to Hong Kong to meet someone. In Hong Kong I was received by a person named Obina. He told me I needed to travel to Uganda to collect more drugs and bring them back. When I learned the payment would be significantly better than before, I agreed and returned home. Two months later, my friend—who had her own problems—and I traveled to Uganda. We swallowed the drugs and returned to Hong Kong, and that marked the end of everything.
I really wished for my child to be healthy, to be happy like other children, that is why I did all this. But truly I regret those decisions very much because right now my children are suffering a lot. Even that child who is sick, currently he is not going to school because there is no money to pay his school fees.
My brother helps me pay for my third child who is in secondary school. I ask you for help with this child, he is suffering a lot. If he is helped, I will be at peace even if I serve my sentence with high discipline.
I urge my fellow women not to love shortcuts even if you are going through hardships greater than what I went through.
First, drug trafficking has many dangers outside of going to prison; you can even lose your life because when you swallow anything can happen. I go through a lot of stress in here. The biggest of all is my children, especially those two are young and need me very much in their lives because I am the mother and the father in their life.
I ask for forgiveness before God and to the Government of Hong Kong. I regret what I did and promise I will not repeat it again. I ask to be given a chance to raise my children so they can get an education to be able to help them in their lives. Because I didn’t study, that is why I ended up carrying drugs. I wish for my children not to become like me due to a lack of education.
Thank you for your time to read the story of my life. It is very much. I have gone through so much that if I write it all, we could fill a book. But if there is someone who wants to know the whole story of my life, I welcome them to come visit me where I am. I will lay everything bare without caring if I embarrass myself because I wish for others to be healed so they don’t come to enter prison like me.
Note: This later was originally written in Swahili. See the original letter in the images below.
