Description
This is based on a true story of a young woman who was born disabled. Her name
is Vimbai. She had elephantiasis of the arm and this condition shapes the future
course of her life. The character she is based upon is born in a remote village
in Africa where disability is not tolerated. She is ridiculed throughout her
youth and this results in depressions which plague her school years. They do not
however, inhibit her capacity to learn. While other girls are getting into
relationships, Vimbai is shying away from people. Books become her refuge. She
hides away from the realities of life by reading anything that comes her way.
This behaviour may be a symptom of depression but it still leaves her wiser than
her peers.
The attempted rape in her first year in the city obviously
does nothing to improve the situation. She has low self esteem and she suffers
from panic attacks. Then, the rape at University puts her in an abusive four
year marriage to Pete whose proud family will not accept that he could commit
such a crime. Life in general becomes unbearable for her in this marriage, which
is punctuated by numerous hospital visits for gonorrhoea treatment in a
continent where HIV/AIDS is spreading like a fire. Her eating problem becomes
the object of ridicule by her in laws and this makes her mental stress worse.
She has problems with her fertility which are almost certainly psychological in
origin ( In a later, happy marriage she gives birth to two children).The abusive
marriage leaves Vimbai with a mental breakdown that keeps her on the edge of
sanity throughout her life.
The book also highlights the problems Vimbai
encounters, wrestling her demons. She is, however, determined to fight them and
shows this with terrifying visits to a clinic for HIV/AIDS testing. She gets
involved in the village fight back programme and proves in the end that
disability is not inability. This book should be an education to women in
different parts of the world who, whether disabled or not, have endured abuse,
ridicule, rape and sexual violence. The book gives everyone hope.
