SCARS of A Brave Girl is the title of her newly launched book where she tells the abominable story of how her biological father allegedly found pleasure in defiling her from the age of six.
28 year old Faith Kamanga wrote the story to advocate for the girls who may be going through what she went through at a tender age.
She went back to the past, recalling the trauma as the man meant to protect her reportedly turned into a ‘monster’ that destroyed her childhood and took away her innocence.
According to Kamanga, the time molestation started she was living with her dad and three young brothers.
She narrated that her father decided to turn her into a mini wife from the age of six up until she was 14.
Kamanga told Kalemba that after eight years of being sexually molested, she gathered the courage to tell her mother who reported the matter to the police but the matter developed short legs as her father only spent a week behind bars.
“My dad got me from mum when I was three years old. In the process, at the age of six, he began to touch me in a way that no child would be touched… the abuse continued until when I was 14 years old,” narrated Faith.
“The scars of my father’s abuse ran deep, twisting and warping my sense of self worth. I began to believe that I was to blame, that my very existence provoked his predatory urges, I had carried the burden of his sins on my slender shoulders, a heavy burden that threatened to crush my fragile spirit. As I grew older, the darkness of my father’s abuse followed me like a shadow, staining every facet of my life.”
She shared that as she grew up, she struggled to form healthy relationships as she was living with the trauma.
“I battled demons that whispered lies of unworthiness and shame in my ears, poisoning my thoughts and actions. But beneath the veil of sorrow and despair,” she said.
The 28 year old has since used her pain to encourage her fellow survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and those going through the trauma but may not have the courage to speak out.
“I want to give hope to young girls who have been through what I went through, I also want to give hope to those who may be going through what I went through so they can speak out and tell the world. Young girls are being sexually abused by older men and that’s not fair to the girls. It’s possible to come out of the pain and live a fulfilling life,” stated Kamanga.
She urged survivors and victims to come out in the open and share their stories so the perpetrators can be brought to book.
Faith Kamanga completed her secondary education in 2013 and has since faced challenges to go to tertiary education.
Despite the trauma he reportedly left in his child, Kamanga’s father lives scot free in Livingstone.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, December 17, 2024
