Sagonia's Story of Triumph

Utilizing the skills we all have is useful in moments of adversity. They become our saviour

Probably most of you have heard Sagonia`s story; but if you haven`t, here is a summary of it for you. Sagonia`s story begins right after she lost her husband. She had never experienced anything like this before. All she had done throughout her life was only what was comfortable for her. She had been overwhelmed by the incidences that had happened the previous year. Her husband had suddenly passed away and left her with two children – boy and girl, in their tender ages. The family was an average one, struggling by the day and it was the husband who provided everything for the family. Sagonia mainly stayed at home to take care of the little ones. She had not gone very far in school and after senior high school had taken a short course in tailoring. Her small tailoring job had been cut short when she got pregnant with her first baby. She never went back to the job after giving birth and here she was, now with her second child, and a single mother! It was now 5 years since she had had any decent job. The passing away of her husband had made her realize that life was changing so fast. It was hardly two months. The children were growing and in a state of demand. Soon the older one would join school. No one was there to help; all the husband`s friends had now deserted the family.
All that was happening in these two months had pinned Sagonia in the corner, and she knew, if anything had to be done, it had to be by herself. She could no longer get back her tailoring job. Even if she did, it wasn’t enough to provide for her family of three. But she still had her tailoring skills, and during her pregnancy had tailored most of her children`s clothes. This had helped her to cut on costs of having to buy most of the wears. 

To cut the long story short, Sagonia didn`t even know that tailoring was the skill that would see her take care of her family and help several other parents in the city. Within the two months of her agony and despair, and between wondering how to move forward as a single mother when all hope was no more, she had a startling realization. She had realized that everyone that had come to her husband`s funeral had loved and commented on the beautiful dresses of her kids as they sympathized with them. It had also occurred to her that she should probably put together her tailoring skills and make kid`s clothes for sale. She quickly sent off this thought on realizing that she had no starting capital at all. She didn’t have any money to buy the necessary materials. Her tailoring machine just lay in the corner of her two roomed apartment and she had only used it to knit her kids’ clothes. It was a gift she received from her husband upon completing her short course in tailoring several years ago. Sagonia tried to borrow money from her friends and in-laws but none could help. They all knew she had no way of paying back. She was also afraid of using the collections from the funeral and savings of her husband. Besides this too was quickly getting depleted by the day`s feeding requirements of the family. Her renting fees were also due and the landlord had threatened to throw them out of the house. They always had to pay three months upfront, and it was now the third month! She knew that her landlord would not have any patience for her at the end of the third month; it was even worse now that the husband had passed away. Sagonia felt pushed to the wall. Her tears every night when the kids were asleep didn`t yield much, neither did her questioning of why God had to do this to her. On one fateful morning, Sagonia woke up by the rooster`s crow, and gathered all her kids` clothes, leaving only a few. She piled them in the basket and headed to do laundry. They were all dry by mid morning. After feeding her kids and leaving them at the nearest play ground, Sagonia went back home, packed all the cleaned children`s wears in a bag and moved door-to-door in the neighborhoods. She had decided to sell her kid`s clothes! The first several attempts were discouraging. She almost chose to go back home. Her decision was withdrawn by her last attempt at selling. She had managed to sell a pair to one lady who loved the designs of her kids’ clothes. This lady had also gone ahead to recommend her to a friend a few blocks away. Sagonia was by now getting excited. She went on to sell to the second person, who took two pairs and promised to recommend her to others. She now had some money, not enough to buy all the necessary materials, but at least she could make a deposit. She still had several of the kids` clothes in the bag. She was tired and remembered she had to pick her kids from the play ground. But this was the start of her triumph. She knew she had to do the same thing tomorrow. The day that followed, Sagonia woke up earlier than usual and headed out of the house before the kids were awake. She did the same routine and this time managed to sell more. With enough money, she was able to buy the necessary sewing materials. She did the sewing work from her house during the day as she took care of her little ones too. As days passed, she was beginning to get calls from various people who wanted to get more of her kids` clothes. She had unique designs that several people liked. Her life had started improving and was now taking on a new direction. She worked on several orders most of the days and nights; and once finished, she did the delivery to clients. Her venture was steadily growing, and by the end of the third month she was able to pay upfront her rental fees. As word spread out of her sense of style, and commitment to her work, she had started to conquer a given section of the market. Her biggest order came from a community school. Most of the parents who bought from her had kids at this school and this made it easy for her. She had now won the tender to supply school uniforms all year round. She would later take her children to the same school. Her business continued to grow and she hired several helpers, bought new machines, and had her own tailoring brand. She no longer rented and her kids were going to the best school in the neighborhoods. This is the story of Sagonia, a story of triumph against odds. It has its humble beginnings, wall-presses, and hopeless situations, scary moments, but above all, moments of rising again against all odds.