Audio By Vocalize
At just 17 years old, Emily Neema Khalai was harbouring a secret that she feared would alter the trajectory of her life forever.
She knew her dreams had been cut short and that her perception in the village had changed. Even more devastatingly, her relationship with her parents, especially her father, had been ruined. He had believed in her, hoping that she would one day change the situation at home through education.
Raised in a rural village with dreams of becoming a journalist, Emily found herself pregnant while still in secondary school. Terrified of disappointing her family, especially her father, she concealed the pregnancy for eight months.
"I knew how my father would react," she recalls. "I didn't want anyone to know."
