Whenever I have done something I do not want anyone to know of, I struggle through keeping it secret. Nevertheless, I still panic through the streets and I suspect every stare or glance that seems too sneaky. Over the years, I realised I had piled up so much stuff in my guarded territory that I began to feel the weight. So much to keep away from parents, friends, family and my public.

But for how long will I keep guarding these territories? It often involves the weapons of lies, falsehood and pretence. Its imprisonment is beyond description and its prison walls always need fortification.

Patricia shared her story of how she stayed through school for six months some years back without going home or speaking to friends. She was pregnant for her first boyfriend for four months, struggling through it alone as a first year student in the university and dealing with the fact that they broke up soon after she told him she was pregnant. Her boyfriend graduated two months into the pregnancy and left her a note saying that he was not prepared to be a father. He also left a doctor’s contact for the abortion.  She aborted the pregnancy and kept it secret. After seven years of marriage without children, they went to see a specialist doctor recommended by a church member. It turned out to be the doctor that did the abortion for her. He is now a believer and a deacon in his local church.