Ada felt excited returning home for the holiday, and wished the bus could move faster. It's been a year already since she left Mandalas, a small settlement in Zuba where the majority of the people there work as farmers to study medicine at a federal university in a neighboring country.
She looked at her old wristwatch every minute, calculating how long it would take the bus to arrive at Mandalas, and for every time the bus stopped for passengers to board or alight, she recalculated again.
"Papa must be waiting for me at the park already, I am sure he received my message about coming home today. I can't wait to see him," Ada said softly, embracing her bag pack sitting on her lap.
Her lips curled into a smile while staring at a man holding a little girl at the bus stop, and it reminded her how her dad always carried her on his bicycle when she was very young.
Ada thought about her deceased mother who died from a minor illness that could have been treated if they had access to a good medical facility in their small village.
She reached for her necklace pendant, the last gift her mother gave her before passing away.
"Mom, I will be a doctor and start saving lives. I miss you," she whispered, caressing the pendant with her hands.
The bus stopped suddenly and Ada lost her balance on her seat.
"Can't you just halt properly?" She muttered, and upon realizing that the bus had arrived at Mandalas, Ada grabbed her things and alighted immediately.
With smiles all over her face, she looked around for her dad but he wasn't at the park.
"Didn't he get my message?" Ada muttered, thinking about how to carry her things trekking about 40 minutes from the park to her father's house.
She waited another thirty minutes, hoping he was on the way, but there was no sign of him, and she had to trek. The dusty road made it difficult for Ada to breathe, with the wind blowing dust into her face.
"It looks like it's rained here for a while, no wonder why everywhere was dusty in the bus," She whispered.
The road to the village was hilly and difficult for Ada to move easily because of her luggage. She was sweating under the scorching sun, but she kept moving and was happy to see her father's friend, who was also a farmer.
"Good afternoon, sir," Ada greeted immediately Mr Eze's bike stopped beside her.
"Ada, welcome my daughter. How are your studies? Are you on holiday already?" Mr Eze replied alighting from his small Suzuki bike.
"Everything is fine, sir. I came home to spend time with Papa for the holiday," Ada replied.
"That's a good thing and your father will feel better having you around," He replied.
"Feel better? I hope he is alright?" Her lips trembled.
"It hasn't rained here in Mandalas and even in the entire Zuba for a year now. The heat is becoming unbearable not just for humans but plants as well and it's affecting business. Your father hasn't been fine because of his crops,"
"Hop on the bike, let me take you home. You will get covered in dust if you keep trekking," he replied and Ada felt relieved with the help.
They soon arrived home and the state she found her dad wasn't a good one.
"Papa, what happened to you? You don't look good," Ada stuttered upon seeing her father looking weak and lean.
"My daughter," He struggled to speak and tears gently rolled down his eyes.
"What's wrong, Papa? Please, don't scare me," She stuttered, holding her father's shaking hands.
"He has been like this for a few months, and when we went to the hospital in the city, he was diagnosed with high blood pressure. We got some drugs, but everything is finished, and we can't go back because of money," Mr Eze said to Ada.
"But you sent me some money last month. You should have used it for the treatment," Ada muttered, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I had to take care of your bills first. Your education mustn't stop and I don't want you distracted by anything," Papa Ada replied shakily.
"I am so sorry," Ada replied and burst into tears.
Mr. Eze excused them and Papa Ada appreciated his kind gesture.
Papa Ada narrated how the absence of rain made him worried. He knew his daughter studying far away from home needed money, and thinking about the whole thing made his health deteriorate.
Every effort to stop thinking after the doctor warned him was futile, and his situation got worse since he wouldn't stop worrying about how to get enough water for his crops.
"I am back and will take care of you now," Ada replied and went to unpack her things after the long chat.
The next morning, Ada went to see her father's farm and it was in a terrible condition. The crops were drying up and things might end up pretty bad on the farmland. Unlike other farmers who could easily channel water from the river into their farmland, Papa Ada's farm happened to be on a hill, and getting water there was very difficult.
For days, she kept thinking about a solution and finally, an idea came up.
"Yes, this could be it. A solution to getting water up there easily," Ada stuttered and rushed to see her father.
"Papa, what if we tell Papa Stella to construct some pulleys. He is a blacksmith right?" She asked.
"Yes, but what is a pulley?" Papa Ada asked and she explained how it works. Everything she said made sense to Papa Ada and his mood felt lightened. He walked his daughter down to the blacksmith, and after explaining what they wanted, Papa Stella assured them that he could build it.
They hired people to create a water channel on the farm and waited patiently for the blacksmith to complete his job.
The pulleys came and they were attached to old giant trees standing tall along the road to the only source of water available for farming.
They got ropes and inserted them through the pulleys before tying gallons to the end. The gallons were released into the river and pulled back up but Ada still wasn't satisfied.
She suggested that a wheel be used for pulling the gallons instead of hands, and after a while, Papa Ada was able to water his farmland easily. She was so excited and Papa Ada started feeling a lot better as days passed.
Papa Ada couldn't' stop blessing God for giving him an intelligent daughter; he was sure that she would have a great impact on the world.
