Cohort 2025 Member
Eunice's Story
“She said this was the first time in her life she felt safe.”
I woke up in the hospital wondering where I was. How did I get here. The last thing I remember is taking the poison that was supposed to end my life. I can't continue living like I had been and yet I am still alive.
I was given as a second wife to a policeman when I was a very young teenager. I was expecting love and instead I got violence. When I got pregnant I thought things might be different and that the beatings and humiliation might end. Upon birth to the baby my husband took a third wife. The regular kicks and slaps escalated, and he threw my baby against the wall permanently damaging his hip. Later, after release from the hospital I bore him another child but the abuse continued. I ran away and hid in my parents house.
As a policeman, my husband located me and forcibly took me and the children back to his home where the kicks and slaps continued. After a third child the conditions even worsened. I had several hospital stays from the abuse. After one severe beating, with my first child still disabled with his hip, I couldn't see any hope in the future.
I took poison to end my life. Someone found me and took me to the hospital. I don't know who that was, nor do I know how I ended up at the hospital but my stomach was pumped and I survived. I was angry that I was alive. I finally realized that God had some purpose for me. I took my children and hid and successfully separated myself from my husband.
I have been living with my mum. My mum died, and I had nowhere to go and hope was fading.
I was given the opportunity to join Women’s Resilience Circle in the one year cohort of 8 women for 2025. I didn’t know what it was but agreed.
The WRC leadership began praying for me to find housing and someone from my church offered a small shed for me to move into until that plot sells.
WRC has shown me that there is always hope. The women are a support group for me, as we all have similar situations. I always thought I was the only one with such severe problems. I didn’t know what counseling was nor even that it existed. After a few sessions provided by WRC I learned that I could open up. I had never told anyone about the struggles and had even covered up the abuse because of fear of my husband.