“The Agony of Coming of Age” by Daryn 11C

Maya was an innocent, ignorant, infant when she was destined to go through her coming of age with gruelling rituals, harmful traditional practices and deep rooted religious beliefs The road of coming of age for Maya was not a bed of roses but a path of prickling thorns

Maya was born in a remote village to a peasant family. From birth, she had to undergo hardships and obstacles for being born a girl. Giving birth to a female was considered a bad omen by her community. The pain of getting a baby girl was more than the pain of labour for her mother. Social evil made many to consider women as a curse in her community.

At the tender age of seven, she had to work on the farm and do household chores She was deprived of basic education as it was considered educating girls would bring more harm than good Again, education for a girl would not help a girl as a housewife to serve her husband and look after her children It was even considered as a taboo to get Western education

Most of the girls in her village were confined to the four walls of the house, once they attained puberty The coming of age was celebrated to tell the world one’s daughter is now ready to get married and bear children Child marriages were rampant and some of them were married to rich old men

Maya was a determined young girl as she raced up the ladder of coming of age. She wanted to liberate women from the clutches of men who deeply believed in evil traditional and religious practices

Maya believed that being born in a rural area, would neither make her a peasant nor an illiterate housewife. She grew up with a vision to discard and dismantle the age-old traditional beliefs, which hindered not only the movement of women but obstructed progress and liberty of women.

Maya’s vision was merely an illusion at first She could not accomplish her mission without arming herself with a sound education As she was the only child in her family, she had little freedom to choose her course of path. She attended a local religious school, but with multiple misconceptions and stinking stigmas she was unable to go further She found it hard to cross the boundaries her parents had set and the laws her community had drawn

Then came the bombshell The day every parent was the day of her coming of age This is going to change the fate of her destiny This was the day which brought cheers and not fears to parents as their daughter would be sold as a slave to a man

The coming of age was a ceremony where the whole village would participate and wish the girl a new life. Maya’s continuous conflicts and repeated resolutions would end today with new conflicts, but no resolutions. The many meaningless chaos, which Maya wanted to turn into meaningful concepts will come to an end today

On the day, Maya came of age, she was dressed as a queen Her lips were perfumed, face powdered, head full of jasmine blooms and hands and legs painted with henna Faked jewellery glittered in her neck as she was brought to sit in a wooden chair in the corner of her tiny room. The house was decorated with palm and banana leaves. Guests, mostly villagers, came to wish Maya attaining adulthood. Frightened and confused, Maya put on a fake smile to please her parents and warm the hearts of the villagers.

Many came with presents like chickens, eggs, sundry goods and even with coins to wish her coming of age The rustic house was a scene of smiles, music, merriment, foods and fun Maria was a little princess who had come of age to delight her parents and her community, but she camouflaged her anger, fear and frustrations The celebration went through some ceremonies such as bathing rituals, dressing and praying It looked good to the eyes and cameras, but it was a scene of shame to humanity and gender inequality

Suddenly the sound of a roaring machine broke the silence of prayers being performed by a religious man

All eyes turned to the roaring sound A well dressed elderly man got out of a Chevrolet car The wealthy land owner came to propose with an unspecified sum of money, gifts of goats and cows in exchange for the newly turned adult- Maya As he entered, Maya had a slight glance of the bald man in the corner of her eyes He was then accompanied by Maya’s father and village elders to sit on a colourful spread mat The sight was a bitter pill for Maya to swallow The engagement ceremony ended with some entertainment

After the ceremony Maya burst into tears and conveyed her displeasure to her parents of getting married to an old man Her parents comforted her and told her that it was for her and her children’s future In Maya’s community, women give dowries to men and in Maya’s case it was different due to the age differences Again, Maya’s parents would be unable to find the money to get their daughter married

The next morning Maya didn’t wake up as usual. Thinking her daughter was tired, Maya’s mother went to the farm to help her husband When they returned home, Maya had disappeared from home There was no trace of Mayah except a piece of note which read, “I apologise for my action I was born as a human but I was not respected My right to live like others, was pawned, merely to fulfil the lust of men There is no meaning to living in a cruel society I hope my sacrifice would erase the silent sufferings of other girls like me Our traditional beliefs must go and girls must not be sex toys for men I am sorry, I couldn’t fulfil my vision and mission, but I am sure this will make other girls to wake up and oppose these illogical, illegal traditional beliefs of our ancestors' '

Maya’s body was found drowned in a well close to her house, where once she frequented to fetch water and meet with other girls of her age

Her death brought a new chapter to her village. It was like coming of age to the village. Her death brought changes to traditional beliefs and liberty to other girls. Age-coming ceremonies ceased and girls were treated equally as boys.

Today, a statue of Maya stands at the site of the well, reminding others, the sacrifice of a poor peasant girl that changed the coming of age of other fortunate girls