A Mother Of All Times.

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A mother is a wonderful gift to a child, someone to nurture and pet, someone to care and scold, i could just go on and on about the importance of a mother in the life of a child but we are aware of their importance.

I would be sharing a story of a wonderful mother who loved not only her own children but other children not of her womb. Such was the extent of her open heart.

She is fondly called youth mama by everyone, this is because despite her old age, she still looks, act and dress like a young lady. Is it any wonder youths flock around her? It is so easy to relate with her. She understands the children and youth and is ever ready to care for their problems.

She was born into a polygamous home. Her mother was the last of five wives and she was the only child of her mother. In Africa at that time and even till now in some parts, female children are worthless. Male children are treasured by their parents especially the fathers. A wife is favoured by how many male children she has.

You can see the scenerio i am trying to paint here. An only female child of the last wife meant being at the bottom of the 'food chain'. She was the cast off of the family. Her mother suffered for her inability to produce a male child for her husband. She appealed to her husband to send her daughter to school all to no avail.

She was married off at the age of fourteen to a friend of her father's who had just lost his wife. He had three little children of his own. It was her duty to take care of them.

It would be expected of her to be bitter about her situation and perhaps take it out on the poor children but youth mama was kind and loved them as if they were her own. At such a young age, she was a better mother than any around. It was as if she had been born with the gift to be a wonderful mother.

She gave birth to five children of her own for her husband. There was no preferential treatment for any child in her house. All children were treated equally.

Then youth mama ventured into business. She bought palm oil by the gallons and sold them, making tidy profits in the process. Her business saved her when her husband died.

Funny enough, she used the money she made from her business to take care of all her children, this included those neglected in the community.

When you see a street child rock a new wear or shoe, youth mama was sure to be behind this. An hungry child was sure of food in youth mama's house. She opened her house and welcomed any child who wanted to leave the streets and stay with her. Thus, it was commn to find her house busy, filled with people, mostly children. Shelter was found in her house no matter the hour, day or night.

Youth mama was a mother to the motherless and oppressed. Her business flourished and soon she began granting the indigent scholarships to go to school. It did not matter the tribe a person belonged to or where the person lived, she gave out with no conditions or strings attached. She gives out money without bias to people who genuinely needs it.

I have come to the conclusion that her ageless beauty steems from her kind and open heart. One can never suffer for doing good, kindness pays.

All her children are doing very well today in their respective fields and are happily married. They emulated their beloved mother and have various foundations across the country dedicated to helping the less priviledged. Theirs is different as no politics are played to get help from their foundations as you would find with others.

Last year, youth mama was given an award by the governor of the state she resides in as a recognition of her good works. This was just one of many awards that have been given to her by different societies and organizations in her state.

She is a pillar in the church community, an asset and role model to her family and communnity and a champion for the less priviledged. She is indeed a mother like no other!

Written for tell me a story : treasured mamas contest hosted by @solarsupermama.