HI SIGA,
HOW ARE YOU; LONG TIME .
LAMIN DARBO
> > With a limping gait she walked, leaning heavily on a
> > walking stick. Her once serene face now wreathed in
> > pain, she was dressed all in black but for the red
> > head-tie. Dragging her bare feet, she slowly moved
> > towards me. Her eyes, when she finally looked at me
> > were devoid of all warmth. With a raspy voice she
> > spoke, slowly and carefully as if she has all the
> > time
> > in the world. “I have come to thank you, she said
> > “For the support you’ve given me during my moment of
> > pain, our pain.” Sluggishly I shook my head
> > signifying that it was the least I could have done,
> > and uncomfortably shifted my gaze from her searching
> > ones.
> > Suddenly she grabbed my hands and her next
> > question
> > shocked me. “Look at me, really look at me and tell
> > me what you see?” Startled, I instinctively moved
> > backwards stumbling on a rock, losing my balance and
> > landing heavily on my behind. “Look at these hands,
> > these callused hands of mine,” She went on,
> > undaunted
> > by my fall. “For years I have cultivated the soil
> > for
> > the purpose of raising my son, all I wanted was his
> > education, but look at what happened to him!”
> > Slowly
> > she put her cane down and gently started clapping
> > her
> > hands to the rhythm of her words. “ I have a pain,
> > a
> > pain so intense it immobilizes me, at night I lay
> > awake with thoughts and memories that wrench at my
> > heart and promise never to go away. My eyes are dry
> > with ‘unwept’ tears, vainly I searched the horizon
> > for
> > my lost son but to no avail.” For a moment she was
> > silent as if rehearsing her next line, a single tear
> > slowly rolled down her left eye and landed on my
> > dusty
> > feet. “Tell me, who is going to tend to me in my
> > old
> > age and bury me when I die, now that I have lost my
> > son, my only child, ahhh the pain it suffocates me!”
> > As if trying to get rid of the discomfort she beats
> > on
> > her chest and unflinchingly looked at me. “I
> > represent all mothers who lost a child or a loved
> > one
> > to this nightmarish regime, this regime that brought
> > nothing but pain and injustice to all. Alas, these
> > poor arms of mine will never again embrace him.
> > Forever he has been taken away from me, he was but
> > fifteen years old, a baby, my baby. His young
> > promising life cut short by a bullet, ahhh, ahhh!”
> > Touching her red head-tie, she whispers in a tired
> > voice “This is for my son and all sons and
> > daughters
> > of the Gambia, who has been lost in this tragedy, it
> > represent tears, tears that I cannot shed, tears of
> > blood that I must learn to live with to the end of
> > my
> > days.” With these final words she turned and
> > pathetically walked back to her hut, disappearing in
> > the shades of the mango trees.
> > In the distance
> > the melodious voice of the Muezzin can be heard
> > calling the faithful to prayers.
> > Dazedly I got up, dusted my pants and with a heavy
> > heart I headed back to the village ‘Bantaba’,
> > thinking
> > out loud. “What are we going to do about this
> > problem
> > that plagues our beloved motherland, the Gambia?”
> >
> >
> >
> > =====
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Send online invitations with Yahoo! Invites.
> > http://invites.yahoo.com
> >
> >
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of
> > postings, go to the Gambia-L
> > Web interface at:
> > http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
> >
> >
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
>
> =====
> "NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION"
>
> ALSO
>
> "NOTHING IS UNACHIEVABLE, THE ONLY QUESTION IS, WHETHER ONE IS WILLING TO DO WHAT IT TAKES TO ACHIEVE WHAT IS DESIRED"
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Send online invitations with Yahoo! Invites.
> http://invites.yahoo.com
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
> Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
