"What did you do, chidimma?, do you wish to end your life for a situation that will soon fade away with time?
Do you think you're unfortunate? .
I asked chidimma , a friend of mine who tried to take her own life by drinking a poisonous substance but was found in time.
At the time of that incident,she wasn't my friend, she was just a random girl that I do see at the hostel where we all found ourselves.
The hostel was a house built by a non-governmental organization for mistreated children or children who were about to be traffic by bad people but was found by the NGO.
The name of the NGO is naptip ( national agency for the prevention of trafficking in persons and other related matters).
Chidimma couldn't reply to my question as some traditional substance for neutralizing the poison were being forced down her throat, little did i know that she took note of all those questions that I asked her and wished to give me a reply.
After neutralizing the poison, I helped her back to her bed and everyone made sure that all harmful substances were removed, I went back to the kitchen where I was before the incidence occurred and few people were kept to watch over her.
The next day, i went to the kitchen to help the hostel mother prepare the dish as usual ( I love helping out in the kitchen, I took it as my daily duty),
After serving breakfast to the other children, it was my time to eat, I saw chidimma entering the kitchen and it seems she was looking for something or perhaps someone.
"Greetings chidimma, how is your health and hope you've eaten?"
I asked and she nodded in agreement.
"So how can I help you?, are you looking for something?"
I asked again looking straight into her eyes with mixed feeling.
I felt she was looking for a knife or perhaps something more dangerous to complete her yesterday's mission so I tried to be extra careful not to be deceived in anyway but I guess I was wrong, she only came to reply those questions that i asked her yesterday.
She looked at the right side of the kitchen and found a small chair and sat beside me,
"How are you doing today, hope you're fine" she asked
"Yes I am and how is your health" I asked
"Fine dear, I have something to tell you,
She paused a little, took a deep breath and started again
"not that I wished to end my life yesterday but I, l didn't have much options"
She started with a calm and shaking voice,
I listened with keen interest as she spoke, explaining in details her life ordeal so far.
She talked about her childhood experiences and also her current situations.
She explained in details how she was sold to a stranger by her grandmother at a very tender age when her mom took her to her grandmother's house to stay for some time.
She told me different stories of what happened where she was taken to and the worse of it all is that she didn't know if her family were looking for her or not ,
neither can she recognize them but she knows her family's name and the name of her village and could still remember a tall tree at the village square but wasn't sure if the tree was still there or not as these happened over 16 years ago.
She felt that she was unfortunate in life and also experience near success syndrome.
I couldn't help but feel pity for her and at the same time felt lucky in life after a long while.
I realized that she needed someone to talk to, someone who would help her relief the burden in her heart and I decided to be that person but what can I do?
I don't have the answers to her questions neither do I have the power to free her from her predicaments so I decided to give her a quiet listening ear and a shoulder to lean on.
We became friends and I kept assuring her that everything would be alright, it will only take time but that current situation will surely pass someday.
I made sure not to disclose her situation to anyone nor make her feel bad in anyway and she on the other side was a great friend,
A friend that understands and value friendship, a friend that values people's feelings , a good friend indeed.
Days and months passed and it seems like there was no hope for us to leave the hostel nor reconnect with our family as people who came long before us were being attended to,
it became a great problem to us and then I came up with a suggestion.
"Chidimma I think we should conduct a fasting and prayer session for ourselves and see if there would be any results"
I told her and hopefully she accepted, then we began.
At first, there was no results but one faithful day, she brought a good news.
Since the NGO couldn't help her locate her family, they decided to give her up for adoption.
It wasn't exactly what she wanted but at least she can leave the NGO building and move around, communicate with more people and maybe one day she can locate her long lost family ( that's if she finally gets adopted).
I, on the other side was reconciled with my family after three months.
I was very happy to finally reconcile with my family but I still value those days I spent with chidimma at the hostel , those days when we stayed with each other through thick and thin
And I sincerely wished to know if she met her family or not.
Thanks for reading till the end.
Yours Faithfully.
Yummycruz1.
Image downloaded from playground.com
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