On his way to his house, Ncedo met Mary, Akhona’s mother.
“You’re busy moving up and down doing nothing again?” Mary asked. “When last did you send money to your child? Your child was sick for a month, and you didn’t even bother to go see her! What kind of parent are you? There’s no food back at home.”
“Hello to you too, mother,” Ncedo calmly responded. “I spoke to Akhona about my situation. I’m penniless! My sister, Amanda, is sick back at home. I don’t even have money to send her to a doctor. We arranged things based on this fact, and she said she’ll be able to look after Lisa until I’m sorted.”
“How can she look after a child when she’s not working?” Mary asked. “Are you trying to tell me that your sister has been sick for three months?”
“What?”
“Yes, you have not been sending money for three months.”
“Mother, you know my situation,” Ncedo replied with tears in his eyes. “I don’t work either, and I don’t have anything to do right now! It’s hard to find a job, so please bear with me. I’ll find a way out of this problem.”
“You were supposed to think of this before you slept with my daughter. I don’t know why the community didn’t kill you as well. You’re a failure! You failed as a parent, so you better stay away from Akhona and my grandchild.”
After saying what she said, and before Ncebo could answer, Mary left.
After Mary left, Ncebo was left alone feeling shipwrecked. That is one of the biggest hurricane he had ever experienced. “I never expected this from her. I thought she is a good Samaritan,” he thought to himself. After a while, he dragged his feet and went home, and as he approached his house with a torn heart, a fallen face, teary red eyes, and lowered shoulders, he saw Eli running towards him.
“Eli, what’s wrong?” he asked curiously.
“Amanda … Amanda … Amanda is sick! She can’t breathe,” Eli responded while heavily breathing. After telling Ncedo the news, they both rushed into the house and found Amanda panting. “She’s hungry. I guess,” Eli said.
“She’s hungry?” Ncedo furiously responded. “Let her eat me, then! I tried … I tried to find something to eat, but I found nothing!”
Silence thereafter …
“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice. It’s just that, I don’t know what to do next,” Ncedo responded.
“It is fine, brother. I can see you’re going through a lot. How I wish mom and dad were here to help you carry the burden,” Eli responded.
“The community took my parents away from me, then Mary took Lisa and Akhona away from me,” Ncedo said. “I cannot allow death to take Amanda also. That’ll never happen! Let me sort Amanda out, then I’ll go and find something to eat after.”
Tell us: What do you think communities need to do whenever there are families in them that are suffering the same way that Ncedo’s family is suffering?