Nigerian comedian, Helen Paul has narrated how she grew up feeling rejected and unlovable.
She shared her emotional story at a recent event.
According to her, she was born out of rape, and her mother was ashamed of her.
Helen Paul was often called a bastard by her aunties and their neighbors. She was told that she would never amount to anything.
Her mother would often tell her that she was “home be met,” which is a Yoruba phrase that means “born of shame.” This phrase made her feel even more rejected and worthless.
Despite all of the negative things she was told, Helen Paul grew up to be a strong and resilient person.
The comic actress is now an inspiration to others, and she is sharing her story to help others who have been rejected.
In a viral video, she said;
“Some of us cannot take rejection.
Some of us do not know that the words we say can make someone feel rejected forever. But in the way it worked for me, it was different. What Yoruba called Akanda, a special child, appointed child. Okay, so you must have heard before where I shared on a stage saying I was born out of rape. And I grew up with my great grandmother where everybody in the compound in the area would call me bastard. So I grew up hearing that you are a bastard. I grew up saying my aunties come to give grandma money for feeding. And they would tell grandma, I don’t know if she told my love, and my mother told me a little bit, and I told her, we are not saying you should use this money to take your own bastard child.
We are saying you should use it to take care of yourself by your medicine. And my mom would say, okay, once they leave, my mom would turn to me and my mom would speak in Pigeon. You don’t hear what’s in your aunties, then they talk. And I saw this word view. Now people were supposed to be your mama blood pedato. But they don’t tell you who you be. If you like, grow up, forget yourself.
Say, person will not do well, nobody will celebrate them. And my mom would turn to me and say again in Isha, we be home be met. Can you hear what I’m saying? I’ll say, my home be met. My mom would say, hey, hey. But I realized that every time I offend mama, mama would not want to touch me because they want mama not to beat me. Imagine a child that the mother gave birth to and the mother is feeling ashamed because everyone in the area, she was afraid of me. So the shame, my mother didn’t know what to do or to run to, according to what she told me.
So sometimes she would just carry me without Nemo. She would be looking for where to eat. So then one day she went to Makoko. She heard that there’s this church in Makoko where they share food for free and fruits. And that was a select church, open 24 hours. So she would go there just to collect food and so she can press the banana and put it in her mouth.”
Helen Paul revealed that at a young age, she had no name and was gifted one by a pastor who saw her mum feeding her fruit because there was no food.
When she was registered in a school, they requested for her Surname but she had none too.
Her aunties forbade her mother and grandmother from giving her their father’s name.
Thankfully, a man in the school lent her his own name.
Watch the full video below;
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