I am an only child. Well at least to my biological parents. My parents had me when they were still kids themselves and because of this, I was moved around from home to home as they were still in school and couldn't afford to live with me.
By the time I was eight, I had stayed with countless relatives and changed schools so many times that I started finding it hard to build relationships or form attachments. I was separated from the childhood friends I had made while at my Grandma's and not only did I move to a school miles away but I also began to live with my father and his girlfriend.
They were both strangers to me as I had only just found out who my biological father really was and this made it even lonelier in my new home. My father and his girlfriend both left early for work and returned at the end of the day, tired and eager to shut themselves away in their bedroom. Television was my best chance at human interaction. I was much smaller for my age so this made me a target for the bullies in my new school. I had also just started wearing glasses and the comments ranged from "tiny tina" to "four eyed stick".
On a good day, my esteem shattered and I was labelled the new kid that had no friends.
I started to loathe school and spent the days longing for when I could finally get home and watch my favourite cartoons as I had no one to play with. The stories behind these animations were my only safe space and in a world that wasn't real, I found a home.
I began to dream about these stories even while I was at school, ached to create my own and eventually came up with my own game. Our house had just been constructed by then so there were plenty of stones and debris lying around and this became my little kingdom. I put up miniature houses and roads to create cities for my little people who were made of stone. I gave them names and even created characters for them.
Everyday was a different story and as I voiced and pushed my "little" people around, I created memories and scenarios that not only kept me entertained but also gave me a whole new perspective.
I am now a storyteller. I am a writer and mental health blogger today because that little game and those little people opened up my imagination to a whole load of possibilities. I wake up everyday with the hopes of touching someone out there through my work and that gives me purpose.
I know the times have changed but I hope to instill these same values in my own children and teach them to use their imagination to create and conquer even though
the times have changed now and everything is pretty much digital.
Tina Mbabazi Musinare (Madame 6teen)
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