The Pain of Being Too short on the streets at night

The Story of Blessing Gatwiri Today’s guest is Blessing Gatwiri, a young woman living in Huruma. She is here to share the difficult journey she has endured. Blessing’s struggles began when she dropped out of school due to lack of fees. Her mother left to work abroad, but over time, they lost contact. Left without guidance, Blessing began going to clubs at a very young age. One day, she met a man who approached her, bought her food and alcohol, and promised her a better life. Later, she decided to travel to town. She sweet-talked a tout who gave her a free lift to Nairobi’s CBD. While wandering around, she entered a club called Bounce. There, she met another man, and that encounter marked the beginning of her life in sex work. On her very first day, she earned 1,000 shillings from him and even stole his phone. Blessing continued living this way until one day she became pregnant by a man she thought would love her. Sadly, he abandoned her. Even after giving birth, she kept returning to the streets to survive. When her baby was just one month old, she began leaving the child in daycare so she could continue working. Her story is a painful testimony of how hardship and abandonment pushed her into selling her body in order to provide for her child.