!!! TRIGGER WARNING CONTAINS TRAUMATIC CONTENT !!!
Hi, I’m Faith Zeni from Kenya. I’m 26 years old. A mother of a seven year old boy. I live in Dubai. I work as a housemaid and cook. My son’s name is Jayden Andeka, I had him when I was 19 years old. I didn’t plan for it, but it happened and I got pregnant. I thank God for that every day! He lives with my mum in Kenya and my mum takes care of him. I’m supporting them with the money I earn.
What challenges have you had to overcome as a mum?
The challenges I have overcome as a mother, is the part where I left my son behind. He is in safe hands with my mum but I left him when he was two years old. I had to leave my country so that I could find work for his wellbeing. I had no other options. I had to just leave. And I don’t know how I did it.
I had to leave home because my baby daddy passed away and he was the one supporting us. So I had to make my son’s life better.
The first time it was very difficult for me because my mum used to tell me he’s crying, asking for his mum. He had only just lost his dad.
As you can imagine it’s very difficult to leave your child behind. As time has gone by I’m growing stronger and I talk to him every day. I go home in the summer and I can be with him and then I come back and continue working.
He’s in school now. And he is happy. Thank God!
Another challenge is the fact that I became a mum at a young age and then lost my boyfriend whom I had Jayden with. He passed away. We were not married, but we were still dating. We had some plans maybe to get married in the future. I did get a boyfriend afterwards and he said ‘I can’t be with you because you are a mother’. I feel like it’s not my fault that I’m a single mother, life happens.
I then decided I didn’t want to date. It’s wasn’t important to me. I wanted to focus on making my life better. And my son’s life better. I know things will just fall into place when it’s the right time.
You have made the ultimate sacrifice for your son. What can we all learn from this as mothers?
Being a mom is priceless. You brought somebody into the world that you love unconditionally. The love is extreme, you can’t explain it.
And being a mother is just beautiful. That’s all I can say about being a mother. You have to do your best, work hard to make sure your child is happy, and has a good life. And once I see Jayden happy, I am definitely happy. And that is the most beautiful thing about it.
When he calls me mommy I just feel so beautiful. It’s just a beautiful feeling. Every woman should feel it.
What advice will you give to your son in everything you have learnt as a mother about life?
My advice to my son is to be a good boy, a respectful boy. When you grow up, you’ll be a man. Be a respectful man and respect women. Be a humble person, but anything you feel like you wanna do, go for it. You have to have a strong mind to know what is not right in life and what is not good.
Most of all work hard. So everybody that sees you, they see you as an example.
I want you to be a good influence, like a role model so that people can say ‘Can you see what Jayden is doing with his life?‘
And that’s what I hope for my boy so that he can prosper and go far.
What’s the best thing about being a mum Faith?
Everything is beautiful about being a mum. Especially Being called mum. It makes me feel warm, needed, special and loved!
