An African Woman's Struggle to Live: The Writings of Beatrice Vuhugwa

The life of an African woman is not an easy one. Her husband and his family have power over her nearly equal to that of gods. Burdened with multiple responsibilities, it is always a struggle to survive and to achieve a better life for her children. Beatrice M Vuhugwa (Eldoret, Rift Valley Province, Kenya) faced some additional challenges. She was raised in a poor family, where her father took out his many frustrations in vicious beatings of her mother. As refugees, they were subject to suspicions and discrimination. Beatrice herself has suffered multiple interventions for a cancerous growth in the neck. Her encounters with the limited health care system of her country, and the financial difficulties it brought, again and again brought her to the brink of despair. In the midsts of this, Beatrice again found herself pregnant. Against advise, she has carried her pregnancy to term and is raising a baby daughter.