Chasing after the elusive money rainbow
By Cynthia Okong’o So where does she get the money to club all night? She hesitates before telling me she has a sugar daddy. “He gives me hantel is a second year student at a local university but she is a rare body in school. Sha, as her friends call her cleared fourth form in 2010 with a grade A-, and got an 2000 bob every two days and still pays my rent and takes care of my shopping,” Shantel shares. She says she doesn’t want to feel left out of her peer group though she admits that all they do is a lot of drinking and clubbing. Are you comfortable with the relationship? I ask. “He is a man looking for a stress free relationship with a younger girl who will not bring drama in his life,” she answers. She admits that her parents give her money though she says “it’s very little so I use it for my savings.” From her talking I learn that her story is not different from that of many girls in town who say they live as the day comes. Young men too have been drawn into the chase for money and good life.
S
opportunity to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Medicine at a very good university. She however craves the good life; a life with everything on the palm of her hands, and for this to happen she needs money, lots of it and she will go to odd lengths to get it. I saw her leaving a local bar in town one evening, drunk as always. As I walked home thousands of questions run through my mind. How old could she be? Does her family care? What happens to her schooling? I manage to meet Shantel through a friend. She looks older than her 21 years. She tells me her family lives in Juja but she spends most of her time in her rented room next to the campus. 28
THE SEED - VOL 25, No. 8 AUGUST 2013