Gladwell Wachira was 15 years old when she left her family to live with her uncle and his children. She had just started high school and her parents thought it best since her uncle, who was divorced, lived closer to Wachira’s school in Kenya.
Her uncle had two small children who were four and six at the time.
One morning, six months after moving in with the family, Wachira woke up and realized that something was very wrong.
“I was wet. I remember going to bed with my panties and pajamas on, but when I woke up, my pajamas and panties were off,” Wachira told The Weight She Carries. “I tried to recall how I could have removed my panties.”
In addition, her private area was sore. Troubled, Wachira confided in a close friend who told her that she had been raped and needed to seek medical attention.
“I went to a nearby hospital. They collect some vaginal fluid, and after examining it under a microscope, they found sperm in it,” she said. “So that’s how I knew for certain that I had been raped.”
“I didn’t have the courage to ask my uncle what happened or why my panties had been removed, so I just kept quiet. When I tried to explain it to my mother, she didn’t believe me. She refused to believe that he could do such a thing.”
– Gladwell Wachira
Wachira continued to stay with her uncle and he continued to rape her in her sleep. She lived with him for four years and estimates she was raped over ten times.
“He was giving me some kind of drug because I wouldn’t feel anything during the rapes. I would just wake up in the morning sore and wet,” Wachira said. “No one believed me. They thought I was spreading lies about my uncle so I could go and live somewhere else.”
What made it even harder for people to believe Wachira was the fact that her uncle was paying for her school fees, and he was heavily involved in the church.
“That uncle had been married to one of my aunts on my mother’s side. How could my family believe the word of a stranger? I can’t just wake up one day and start saying stories and accusing a relative of such a thing.”
– Gladwell Wachira
In desperation, Wachira reached out to one of her teachers and told her what was happening at home. Her teacher gave Wachira a place to stay temporarily.
Eventually, she returned to her uncle’s place, but when she completed her final high school exam, Wachira ran away from home.
“I didn’t tell my uncle, and I ended up in Migori, all the way from Nanyuki (about 9 hours away),” she said.
Wachira had been in contact with a woman there who gave her a place to stay for six months. She found work and was eventually able to afford her own place.
“I called my mother and told her I was OK, but our relationship was strained because she had not believed my uncle raped me. How can a parent not believe their own child?”
– Gladwell Wachira
About a year later, Wachira met a woman who had a similar experience.
“She was being raped by her own father. She asked to stay with me and I took her in. I provided everything for her,” she said.
As time went by, Wachira kept coming into contact with women who had been abused and needed refuge.
“Some of them had escaped female genital mutilation and other abuses,” she said. “That’s how my organization was born.”
Wachira founded the Butterfly Girls Project in 2008 and set out on a mission to rescue girls and nurture them until they were able to support themselves.
By 2014, she had more than six girls living in her home.
“Everybody had a different issue. Some had dealt with female genital mutilation, some were rape survivors and survivors of child marriages,” Wachira said. “They weren’t in school. They would spend the day hustling and trying to make money.”
In 2016, Wachira met a man who became interested in her romantically, and took an interest in her work with the girls. He advised her to build a home large enough to house the girls she was caring for.
“He took out a loan and helped me construct the house we now live in. I bought mattresses and blankets for the girls,” she said. “We didn’t even have a bed.”
Knowing she couldn’t afford to provide for the girls’ daily needs, Wachira reached out to a woman she came across online named Sha’ Givens based in California.
Givens is the founder and CEO of I Can Fly International – a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower vulnerable children and youth around the world through education and justice initiatives.
Givens sent someone to visit Wachira and the girls to assess the need. With her help, Wachira was able to build a dormitory for the girls called Butterfly Dormitory.
“Currently we have 37 girls from five different tribes in Kenya,” Wachira said. “The girls range from 8-17 years in age. I take them in and take care of them until they are done with school.”
“I feel I can’t go back to my father’s house. I haven’t been there for over 10 years. I miss my mother a lot. I miss my whole family, but I can’t go back. They ruined everything. I could have gone to college, I could have done something better with my life, but I can’t face them. They trusted someone over their own child. And I don’t want to ever see that uncle of mine again.”
– Gladwell Wachira
In her early 20s, Wachira started seeing a counselor after a man she was dating at the time ended the relationship when she opened up about her story.
“He said he couldn’t be with someone who is a victim of rape. It bothered me that he was leaving me because I had gone through something that was never my wish or will for that to happen,” she said. “I started hearing people call my name, but when I would answer, the people around me would tell me no one was calling me. So I began to think I was going insane.”
Distraught, Wachira sought medical attention and was told she needed counselling, which she did for six months.
The sessions were helpful, and she ended up taking classes to become a counselor herself.
“I have to fight for these girls. I’ve always prayed that one day I would meet someone who would help me share my story. Not just mine, but the stories of these girls. We need to support them because some kill themselves because of trauma and stress.”
– Galdwell Wachira
To this day, Wachira doesn’t know how her uncle drugged her.
To connect with Gladwell Wachira, or to support her efforts please reach out to her at gladwellwachira7@gmail.com.
To find out more about I Can Fly International, please visit their website at icanflyinternational.org
Vimbai E. is a content marketer, ghostwriter, and the founder of The Weight She Carries. With hundreds of articles and stories publishing online, in print and for broadcast, her love of language and storytelling shines through every piece of writing that bears her name.