Every day in ourlives is like the begining of a new series.No one fully knows what lays ahead nor the day true love will knock even more intriguing, the one who will change your life around and bring back hope.
Fatuma was a 15-year old whose main concern was whether the henna she had applied the previous night would hold on to her fingernails for long.
She had no idea that within three years, she would be in Somalia training new recruits, going toe-to-toe with people who had committed to protecting the family she had left behind.
“I killed. I watched people kill,” Fatuma says.Her hands are not soft. Her body is not wrapped in layers of baby fat.
In an interview, the woman, Fatuma narrated how the soldier (name withheld) was part of a contingent that attacked the militants camp and kidnapped her – a move she stated, saved her life.
The ambush occurred a year after she had been recruited by the terror outfit. She was 20-years-old at the time.
The soldiers overran the camp and killed many of the fighters. In a bid to save her life, Fatuma ran into the bushes.
“I escaped the perimeter being set up by the army and hid in a hole in the ground,” she stated.
Fatuma was later taken to a house in Garissa town. The soldier then locked her inside his house assuring her of her safety.
“He used to visit me in the house. He told me about his life and eventually, we became close and he proposed to make me his wife. I had nothing to live for. I knew if I went back home I’d be dead,” she stated.
With the goal of starting afresh, the soldier got her a new ID with a different name and they got married.
The army man was soon transferred to a military base in Central Kenya. Fatuma accompanied her husband to his new deployment.
Unfortunately, in 2017, barely a year after they got married, the KDF soldier died.
“He died from complications from HIV. I don’t know if I gave it to him or he gave it to me,” she conveyed.
After his death, Fatuma moved to Malindi and commenced on the next chapter of her life with a new husband.