Millicent Ojiambo handles issue of abortion cautiously

By ZAKAYO AMAYI

In recent months, some medical researchers have been giving statistics of those who engage in abortion as alarming. The Standard on Wednesday, 28th August 2013 carried a news story entitled Crooked Doctors Mint Money in Risky Backstreet Abortions in which it reported that the rate of unsafe abortion in Kenya had remained at the digit high.

Though the media has been doing well by sensitising the people on the vice, it is worth noting that creative writers, the likes of one Millicent Makhulo Ojiambo have not been left behind. Her debut book, One More Chance (2012), is a novella cantered on the experiences of Waridi and her parents, Mzee Matata and Busara, lawyer Chozi and her husband Baraka.Like in Kinyanjui Kombani’s The Last Villains of Molo (2012), the book starts with a prologue that paints a picture of some of the unfolding events.

In the section, Chozi is traumatised by a series of traumatising nightmares necessitated by her past experiences. The nightmares become a recurrent thing in the text.

Readers are informed

As the story unfolds, the readers are informed of the 16-year-old Waridi who resides in Huruma slums in company of her not-well-to-do parents. Following her impressive performance in the national examinations, the Matata people are afraid of how they would finance her education.

 Luckily, the exceptionally beautiful girl is awarded an admission and full bursary to join Peak Girls’ High School that was later thwarted on the grounds that she had been put on the family way. This had come after Waridi had been waylaid and defiled by some tall and energetic - who had also stabbed her on the belly. 

This is also a story of Chozi, an employee of the Union of Kenyan Women Lawyers, and her husband, Baraka, who had been married for six and half years but remained childless.

Despite requests by Baraka to take her to a gynecologist for some medical check-ups, the lady remains hesitant – possibly remembering what could have contributed to the same.

With mind-boggling pressure from his mother and other relatives, this man Baraka decides to temporarily part ways with his wife with a promise to give her a final word later. It is this separation that makes Chozi become emotionally unstable and in one of the instances, embarrasses herself during a media interview. In the text, Waridi is ridiculed both by her neighbours and slum dwellers, for engaging in fornication and trying to wash her character by alleging she was raped. Embarrassed, she attempts to procure an abortion using an umbrella stick, which almost turned fatal.

 Abdomen on fire

“In an instant, her lower abdomen was on fire and she was finding it hard to breath. A searing pain tore through her backside and she collapsed on the floor and lay there for a while. A quick dab between her legs revealed that she was bleeding. She tried to sit up again but the pain was unrelenting.”

With the arrival of police, young Waridi is taken to the Huruma Maternity Clinic for medication for attempted abortion.  This makes Busara seek the help of Chozi, who at first is hesitant on the grounds that Waridi and the Matata people had tampered with the evidence of rape. She was afraid of losing the legal battle.  At the peak of the novella, madam Chozi succumbs to pressure from Baraka to visit the gynecologist who later informs her that: “Chozi, your fallopian tubes are permanently blocked. It seems that there was some kind of infection in your uterus, which went undetected. I am very sorry, but at this point in time, there is nothing we can do for you.”

The lady thanks the gynecologist and on her way home got involved in a terrible road accident that left her in a coma for several days on end. As a result, Baraka lives by her marriage vow by promising to continue giving his hand in marriage until death sets them apart, offers the child to the Baraka people for adoption.

Second chance

In return, Baraka and Chozi offer to pay for her education and thus giving her a second chance. The latter also promises to help Waridi win the legal battle against the state on the attempted abortion. As a good writer, Ojiambo has managed to discuss the rather taboo topic of abortion but with utmost care.  As a starting pointing, the writer has referred to statistics on abortion conducted by some research body – maintaining that the rate of the vice had remained at level high.

She has also reiterated the fact that despite restive laws, many people still abort. And with Waridi and Chozi conducting the act through unsafe means, the writer is of the opinion that such practice was the cause of many deaths and medical complications.

Through the rape incident, Ojiambo has noted that men also need to be considerate, law abiding and responsible in matters to do with reproductive health. She writes: “…What happened to the mighty warrior of morality? What I am trying to tell you is this…when you, men, learn to take responsibility for your actions and perhaps not spew your seed all over the place, then we can begin to preach about morality!”

In other words, the writer is sensitive on the involvement of men in reproductive health as evidenced by the persons of Baraka who has interest in the Chozi medical condition. As a female writer, she has discussed both the negative and positive sides of men.

The economist-cum-writer has also highlighted the plight of the marriage institution in contemporary Kenya as facing some kind of interference from third parties. For instance, Baraka is pressured by his mother and relates to abandon Chozi who is childless.

In this novella, Ojiambo has discussed the issue of unsafe abortion as one of the causes of bareness. 

Rich in style and content

Like all other good works of art, One More Chance (2012) is both rich in style and content. The author has adopted the use of accessible English language for broader readership. Like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Margaret Ogolla, Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye and Florence Mbaya, this girl writes with easiness, which characterises all well-read authors.

There is also the rich use of literary devices such as foregrounding, flashbacks, figurative language and irony, among others devices. In my view, One More Chance (2012), a well crafted book that can be read by young adults given its style and content.

Writer is a lecturer in literature at Kibabii University College in Bungoma. Email: [e-mail]