Lola Aforo

Lupus or Me?: I Chose Me! Lola Aforo

Lupus or Me? I Chose Me! is a book about a woman, who hails from Sierra Leone, West Africa. In the book, she narrates of a troubled childhood in the city of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. In her book, she tells about her childhood difficulties that she couldn't share with her families and friends; as she was scared they would not believe her stories or that she might even get into trouble for speaking out. In this book, she takes us through the many challenging and adverse experiences young girls go through growing up in a society where girls and women are marginalized. She suffered many child abuses which include sexual, emotional, physical, and mental. In addition to these traumas, she experienced female genital mutilation (FGM), early marriage, and numerous spousal abuses. Then she met lupus! A chronic immune disease which she thinks came into her life due to the many traumatic life-changing events that she went through.

The book tells her story which creates an eye-opener into some of the deep-rooted events that describe how girls and women suffer from marginalization in Sierra Leone including many other similar countries. Her faith in God, resilience, and braveness through these battles have equipped her in dealing with lupus! Her story is one to read so you would understand the life of an African girl who doesn't speak as much but has so much to tell! Now that she speaks and writes, she wants to tell it all with no fear. She is a survivor who vouches to choose herself over lupus along with all the challenges she has been through in her life's journey.