Bubbly actress Jackie Vike popularly known to her fans as Awinja has opened up on her strict upbringing in Guanga, a busy hood located in Eastleigh, Nairobi.
Speaking during a recent interview on Engage talk, the former Papa Shirandula actress admitted that she detested the area they grew up in. Thus, she did everything in her power to try and move her family to a better setting.
According to Jackie, theft cases and negative peer influence mostly dominated Guanga. In her attempt to lead an everyday life, the social media sensation reveals she developed extreme self-esteem issues as her normal would often be considered dumb.
"That area really crashed me. It crashed my self-esteem. I had serious self-esteem issues. This was mainly brought about by the life people led there. In that area if you lived a straight life you would be seen as abnormal. If you are a girl in that area and you don't have a boyfriend who is a thief, you would be considered dumb. Most girls that I grew up with ended up being single mothers because of them their baby daddies were thieves and so they left them with kids. Others were shot, others faced the wrath of mob justice so those things really hurt my feelings," she said.
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Aside from the struggle to try and fit into her hood, Jackie and her family abruptly lost their father, who was their breadwinner, slowing down her dream to give them a better life as she had not completed school at the time of his demise.
"My dad was a very interesting person… my dad used to embarrass us. He was a serious drunkard. There's no day that passed without my mother being called to go get her husband, it's just by God's grace. Despite all this, my father was the most loving, the most responsible and he was such a family man. My dad valued education so much," she said.
Adding: "No matter how drunk he was he would come home and ask if we picked up our books to study that day. After we buried my dad, the only question I asked myself was how I was going to go back to school. That thought stressed me out a lot but I went back. I didn't know how my mom did it but I finished."
Realizing she had a talent for acting, Jackie stated that after completing her high school studies, instead of staying at home, she went to computer school and frequented the theatre in the hope of landing an acting gig.
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"When I left the house my mom used to think I was going to aviation school but in reality I was going to the theatre and I was fortunate enough to land a role with a group called Theatrics, I passed and they accepted me. One thing with travelling theatre, you are required to travel a lot so at some point I had to open up to my mom. She listened but only gave me one chance to pursue it. If it didn't work out id have to go to aviation school.
"Those things were really pushing me not forgetting how much I hated the area I lived in. I kept asking myself, when I'm I ever going to leave that place, I just want to get my mother out of that place. While other people spent their money on clothes, I opened an account to help me save towards getting my family out the area we lived in," she continued.
Luckily for Jackie her acting career kicked off almost immediately after landing her first main gig which was a role in the famous Wash and Set TV series and has since then become a reputable household name," she said.
