Days ago, the news about a guardian who inflicted wounds on a little girl was all over the news. This made me flashback to a similar personal experience i had. Few years back, i had this rented apartment. The old land-lady had all her children at Europe. She sort of needed company in the big house, so she let me stay with only a little rent. Mama was extremely nice. As a bachelor, cooking was like a taboo for me. I hardly cooked. All thanks to her, i was always well fed. Couple of months later, she found it a necessity to get a househelp. Days later, she got this little pretty 10yr old girl, Uche. This little girl was respect & hardwork personified. While a sleepy-head like me woke up by 7am, she got up by 4:30am to do her chores before getting to school. She comes back by 3pm, eats, does her homework and helped Mama around the house....Mama never overworked Uche but she didnt hesitate to use the rod when necessary either. Being somewhat of an introvert, i kinda feel uneasy around aged people and little kids but with Mama & Uche, it was a different pleasant experience. Before Mamas death, i totally relished every single moment i spent with her. About 7 months after Uche came, Mamas health began dwindling. As i wasnt always at home, someone else had to come take care of her. That was when the trouble started... Aunty Beatrice was a bully. I called her Aunty cos she seemed older than my mum but was still single. For very little provocation, she berated Uche. Sometimes she hit the girl so hard for not washing the plates on time...Mama was getting weaker everyday so she couldnt really intervene much and i was never at home most of the time. Uche began to get depressed. She no longer smiled even when i try to play with her. The irony of all this was thar Aunty Beatrice was an Evangelist in her church. Most nights she never ceased to disturb our sleep with her incessant holy-ghost prayers. Everything came to a head when she tagged Uche as a witch. Infact, she actually accused the little girl of being responsible for Mamas ill-health. When Mama told me this, i was heart-broken...Who tags a 10 yr old girl a witch? Who believes in witchcraftry anyway?...As part of Uches deliverance sessions, she had to fast from 6am-6pm for two weeks, which meant she went to school on an empty stomach...Imagine how devastating that can be for a 10yr old child. I had to secretly give her money to get something in school...***Let me cut the story here*** Why are people fond of transferring aggression on others? Perhaps the old Aunty Beatrice was frustrated at her inability to get a husband and the next person she could leash it on was the poor girl....If she was such a good person and her god lives, why couldnt she get a husband? I have Aunts & Uncles who have the biggest bibles, longest rosaries, altars, hundreds of prayer books but their human relations is totally not cool. They never miss morning masses, fellowships are conducted in their houses, they are officials in church yet they treat their househelps like shit. I wonder why i never took any concrete action against that woman. I still live with the guilt.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 16:56:54 +0000
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