The first one, and probably the most important one to me is that I know what is means and how it feels to seem helpless. Let me explain. I am someone that has had to do a lot of things for the people in my family as errands. Some of these errands will need me to go places I have never been to before, sometimes with limited transport fare. Or the errand could require me to carry things that I will struggle with but will still have to do it because there isn't any other option. There was one time when I was around ten years old, during Easter holiday. One of my aunts asked to go and pick up things she had bought from the market and bring home because she had somewhere she urgently needed to be. Now, one might think that the market was far away, or the items where probably few, so the bag will be light. You would be very wrong. I don't exactly know the milage but the market was definitely far from our house, especially for a ten year old.
When I reached my stop on my way to the market, I had to walk from there for about five to ten minutes, as fast as my legs could go, before actually getting to the market. When I did get to the market reached the person whose shop the items where, my heart skipped. There were two very full and tied Bagco bags (Nigerians will know the size of this bags). And the contents were not light either. One was full with blended fresh pepper, onions, and tomatoes. While the other one had chicken that made the bag half full, and the other ingredients made it full.
Quite frankly, I did like the challenge at first, and I convinced myself that I could do it. I mean, in my head the distance I'd have to walk before getting a taxi wasn't much. When I started walking I realised how wrong my analysis was. The road seemed to go on forever. With how thin yet hard the handles of the bag was, plus the weight of the bags, gravity started causing the handles to dig into my hands.
I had walked half way but it seems the end was still too far. That's when I started looking around for adults that may have pity on me and maybe help me carry one bag still I got to where I would get a taxi. But nobody seemed to pay attention to me. Now I know I could have called the guys pushing wheelbarrows (what they call porters in other countries), the money I was giving was only enough to take me to and fro the market.
When I finally got the the junction and boarded a taxi, I felt really relieved. But all of a sudden, anger started creeping in. I was getting angry because nobody thought to help a child that was obviously carrying a lot of weight for their age. Thankfully, that anger disappeared as fast as it came. Maybe because someone out if the kindness of their hearts decided to pay my fare for me.
The struggle continued when the taxi got to our bus stop. I still had to walk with that load for a distance a bit farther than the one I had to walk from the market to the junction before I got home. Of course I was rewarded with a bottle of coke and an extra chicken when the food was ready for my hard work.
I don't know when I made the decision to always help when I saw that someone needed help. But since then, I find myself helping people, even strangers, even when they didn't ask.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. See you soon. 馃
