Ogalo Jane

Kenya

Room 807

Today, I felt unmotivated about going to work after the morning I had. I hoped my boss would not notice the black eye that I tried to cover up with makeup. After welcoming her last client, the building felt so quiet that I could hear the conversations in the room. Normally, I would be uninterested, but the booming laughs from the room made me curious. I went to the door to eavesdrop. Pamela marveled about finally moving on from her abusive partner. At first, I did not decipher the joy in opening up about marriage. But I later discovered that my boss was a therapist. People came to her with different problems. It took a lot of courage to eventually seek her help. Ironically, I was unaware that I could find healing in opening up.

I finally understood room 807’s popularity. Miss Williams was a gifted therapist who helped many people. It surprised me that people talked freely about “abominable” topics like marriage and sexuality, something unlikely in Africa. But now I know there is no shame in opening up about any issue. I got out of a toxic marriage through therapy. I promised Miss Williams to tell all my African friends about it.