Merry is a 23-year-old mother of two young daughters, aged five years and four months. Her journey into motherhood has been marked by hardship, resilience, and an unrelenting desire to survive against difficult odds.

Merry’s childhood was unstable. Her parents lived in different regions, her mother had remarried, and her father struggled with alcoholism. Neither home was safe or welcoming. Her stepfather refused to accept her, and her father was unable to care for her and was even forced to run away from their own fathers house because he wanted to abuse her and her sister sexually, when they left her fathers house they departed with her sister. Of her five siblings, she only knew one brother who lives in Arusha; the rest remain distant and unknown.

She began primary school but was forced to drop out due to financial struggles faced by her aunt, who had been supporting her. Still young and determined to help herself, Merry moved to another town in search of work. The jobs she found paid very little, and eventually she returned to her village with no stable place to live. She survived by moving between different households and trying to earn a living through a small business making liquid soap.

During this time, she met a man who pretended to be a customer but had other intentions. One day, when she went to deliver soap to his place, she lost consciousness and later realized she had been taken advantage of. Months later, she discovered she was pregnant. When she informed the man, he initially agreed to take responsibility, but soon disappeared and could no longer be reached.

Left alone and pregnant, Merry found work as a house help to survive. However, as her pregnancy advanced, she was forced to quit. Eventually, she learned that her sister was living in Arusha and reached out for support. She moved there and stayed with her sister until she gave birth. But when her baby was just two months old, she was told to leave by her sister saying she has offered her enough help already.

Once again, Merry found herself without a home. Moving from place to place, she met a woman who introduced her to her brother, suggesting he was looking for a wife. Desperate for stability, Merry agreed to marry him, hoping to build a secure life for herself and her child.

Instead, she entered another difficult situation. Her husband lived near the Tanzania–Kenya border and struggled with mental illness, was using Marijuana, and did not have a proper job. They lived in a mud house with very limited resources. Merry became pregnant again and had to work in other people’s fields to provide for the family, even during her pregnancy. When she asked her husband for support, he often responded with violence.

After giving birth safely to her second child, the situation worsened. Shortly after, her husband left, claiming he was going to Nairobi to look for work. He never returned.

Alone with two children and no support, Merry asked a neighbour for some money for transport and returned to Arusha, where she at least knew a few people. She found temporary shelter with a friend, who was also a single mother of seven, who lived in a small mud house provided by a Good Samaritan. Conditions were extremely difficult. Because of a small space in the room, two of her friends’ children were spending the night in a local leader’s house, they were sleeping on an old worn-out mattress.

With a two-month-old baby in her arms, often crying from hunger, Merry spent her days searching for work and asking for help. It was during this time that she met a pastor from a nearby church who told her about Neema Village.

With nowhere else to turn, Merry walked to the MAP offices carrying her two children, exhausted, hungry, and desperate. When her situation was assessed, the team visited her living conditions and confirmed that she was in need.

Merry and her children were then welcomed into the MAP apartment, where they now have access to safe shelter, nutritious food, and essential care. Her four-year-old daughter has begun attending a little school supported by Neema.

Today, Merry is in a place of healing and rebuilding. She is receiving counseling and participating in life skills classes offered at Neema Village. While she is still discovering what path she wants to pursue, she now has the support, stability, and opportunity to dream again.

Merry’s story is one of survival, but also of hope. With the right support, she is beginning a new chapter, not just for herself, but for her daughters.