My nickname is Tess from Isiolo, Kenya. I nicknamed myself because I felt it sounded cool to be called Tess. I come from a very small village where everyone knows everybody. I remember a lot from when I was young and I wish it was all I remember now. I was born to a family of eight children, seven girls and one boy. I was the second born in my family and at one point it was just me and my elder sister, Martha. When we were just the two of us was the best time of my life; I was the last born and she was a child without any responsibilities. Martha, only two years older than me, used to catch butterflies and grasshoppers for me, we run in the rain, ate dirt from the anthills, run on the grass full of dew, and sang our hearts out. It was a moment of pure laughter and unending play. I loved Martha. One day my mother’s stomach became so big. I thought my dad had hit her so bad that this time the swelling refused to go away. I was so worried for her, like the time that dad hit her wi...