Emily.
INTRODUCTION
There is the noise of children everywhere: children laughing, playing, screaming. Washing hangs out of the windows to dry; some windows are smashed. I walk into the three-bedroom flat, shared by three families. There is a sweet smell of egusu (melon seed) being fried in palm oil, the TV is on mute, and music is playing from a CD player. I am offered a malt (non-alcoholic beer) to drink, and welcomed in Igbo: ‘Nnoo, Ndeewo nwunye anyi!’ (‘Welcome, our wife!’).
CRAMPED IN LONDON
Hope and Nkemji have a 1-year-old son, Tobechi.* They are looking after Chisara, a 3-year-old girl, whose mother has gone back to Nigeria to get married. Because Chisara ‘doesn’t have papers’ (passport/visa), her mother has left her with Hope and Nkemji. They are all living in one small room. Joy sleeps in the bed with the two children; Nkemji sleeps on the sofa. The …
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