This girl is studying math after finishing her chores for the day. There is no electricity, which is typical. But she was always eager to learn anything I could teach her.  Who can say when a child becomes a woman? However when a 15 year old female has a 16 month old baby, motherhood demands the maturity of a woman.  The process of giving birth definitely has matured this girl/woman enough to deepen her thoughts and looks. But I could also see that she longed for her own childhood which had ended too soon. In my eyes, she is a woman-child who has had an incredibly tough life as a child and now has playful dreams for a woman.
We spent a lot of time together; I got up early to watch her clean the house, get water, wash dishes and clothes- her daily routine. Sometimes I could convince her to let me help but she did not give up her duties easily. I loved listening to her although my krio language was not fluent. One day she told me about her labor. She said it was painful. She was feeling really hot and then she laid down. She felt something in her stomach. It was painful. I would love to get into her world and look through her eyes. What does she think when she is alone and what does she think about the people around her? How does she handle the everyday drudgery that she has to go through? The only escape is in her mind and she seemed to know that.