Helping a Friend!

How do you follow that up, huh? Meeting all then seated presidents of different African Countries and attending the African Union Summit! I dug my heels in this here Motherland and tried to ready myself for what was to come next. Life is like that, showing you the last thing you would expect, but here there is a keener sense of awareness. Like I said a few times before, this is a mysterious land.  

The summit was a good distraction from the sadness I had been experiencing because of the breakup with my boyfriend. I was over it, through, done! I can’t stand a cheating man and I know GOD didn't bring me here to Africa to be having a woman call my phone and hanging up! Bye! I was back to enjoying being free! I would go out most times alone or with a male friend that liked to dance with me. Going out alone didn't bother me as long as I had my transportation lined up. The first time I ever traveled out of the states I was alone and the first time I came to Africa and most times since I've been alone. I determined a long time ago. In 1985 for that fact that if I waited on someone else I’d still be waiting. My life had already been delayed enough. I knew it was me and the world!

One day I was at home just being at home and the front doorbell rang. I wasn't expecting anyone, but here people just drop by even if you've told them they must call first. No one had called and I didn't have any appointments. Often people would stop by asking for some help for this or that. There were also families in the neighborhood that I suspected had TB and encouraged and escorted them to go get tested and treated so it could have been either or. I still do a lot of 1:1 health education when appropriate. A little information can save a life! Anyway I went to the door and asked who it was before I opened the gate. Fences here are like prison walls, no white picket fences here. I was surprised when one of my ex boyfriend’s friends answered. I told him his friend wasn't there through the gate and turned to go back in the house when I heard him asking me to come help my ex boyfriend. I went back to the gate, opened it and explained that we were no longer together so whatever his problem was it wasn't mine. His friend began to whine, an African whine and if you don’t know this sound I can’t explain it. “Please now, help him oooo, his mind have left him oooooo”! Huh, what!?

Ok, ok, he had my attention so I invited him in, gave him water as is customary and listened. He asked me when was the last time I’d seen my ex and I told him a couple of months ago. He asked me to go with him to the beach and see him. I said I didn't want to go. He started trying to explain my exes bizarre behavior; shouting loudly (usually very soft spoken), drinking mid day, not at work and he had tried to attack this his friend. Did sound strange, but my psych skills didn't kick in right away, I was still busy being through with him and really wasn't even trying to care. That would change in a couple of hours.

The block I lived on was full of important people, very important people. It always had been as long as I lived there, but it was a changing. I was in the house being in the house when I heard a car horn blowing like someone was laying on the horn, nonstop noise and then shouting, “F..k the……., F..k his mother, I mean crazy talk that can get you in trouble here you can’t recover from. I realized it was the voice of my ex, he was driving up and down the road screaming his insults with his head hanging out of the driver side car window. He was gone! This brilliant young business man was not sane. It was sad and he wouldn't trust anybody except me. He turned to me, his family and friends turned to me to help him. I did! Finally got him some meds and convinced him to let his father take him to Senegal to get treatment, no hospitalization. He agreed only if I would go with him so I did. During his mania he had given away three cars, spent almost twenty five thousand dollars, walked away from his job, went to jail twice and rented multiple apartments simultaneously in different areas.  Phew! I was glad when I could step away from that. I kept questioning myself and wondered how I missed those signs and symptoms, but some things are not for us to see.

A couple of months had gone by since I turned in my application letter to the university and I had not heard a peep. As GOD would have it I was hanging out at a local spot with some guy friends when the one that had referred me to the university asked me how the application process was going and I told him they had not called me. He said I should call them so the following Monday I did. I went in the next day for the interview and I was hired. Yay, I had a job!!!!!!! Humph, oh how things change!

Friends helping friends!