dasalone-titi Rahima
When I was a little girl. I will sit in front of our rented apartment in the east part of Freetown, Wellington to be precise. Every day at around 5:00 to 6:00 Pm, I will leave everything I was doing and dashed to the veranda, just to have a peek of Miss Davies; a lady whose father’s name was on the street. They had the best house on the street, fenced with barbed wire, with a lot of fruit-bearing trees in it. Did I mention the wild dogs? Yes! Wild dogs, so if you don’t have business with them or you are not invited to their compound, you don’t go anywhere near their house.
Why do I always rush, to go seat and wait around that same time in the evening? I didn’t even know what time meant but because of the routine nature of it all, I will surely know it was time to go to that spot. My reasons then were as follows; she was the first woman I ever saw in my life driving a car, she was always well dressed, and I enjoyed watching her taking those slow strides in her thin heels up the hill if she did not drive. Thirdly, she worked in a bank and my idea then was all bank workers are rich. Finally, and most importantly, she would smile and waved at me most times. Ask me a few questions a few times, and will give me money ( laugh out loud).
Why am I telling you this? Those encounters planted a seed in my psyche. Her actions and warmth prompted me to dream. From those moments forward I looked up to her, her kind of woman or what she embodied; the educated, independent and hardworking woman. I wanted to be educated, to drive a car, work in a bank and become rich like Miss Davies, and that idea never left me growing up.
Unconsciously, this became my driving force through the years. Adulthood they say is a scam (smh). This is true indeed, I grew up and got my first degree. Coincidentally, my first job was at a bank. Lo and behold it was no fun, not what I expected after all. Why was she always cool and calm after work? I usually thought to my self. Again, I got to realize not everyone working at the bank is rich and happy (smile); I had to quit my bank job because l didn’t quite enjoy it.
I’ll tell you I have had so many dreams and aspirations. I have dropped a lot, changed a few, and I have picked up others along the way. The fact is I will never stop dreaming. I am not perfect, and not where I want to be, but my wish for every other young girl is to have that one adult that will smile at them and prompt their imaginations. That these girls will encounter strong women that will plant seeds to be more in their minds, seeds that will germinate into something beautiful. I hope every girl has the opportunity to encounter that one person in their lives. Be it a man or woman that will change their perceptions, and attitudes to life in a positive way forever. Seeds that will reorientate their minds.
Since we left that area, I have neither seen nor heard about Miss Davies. I have completely forgotten how she looks. But what I vividly remember is how she touched my life in so many incomprehensible ways. Well, maybe we might have met somewhere along the way without recognizing each other, who knows? Isn’t that weird or the thought of it? Today, I am here, sending Miss Davies love and light where ever she is or might be, she is my shero. I want to let her know that I have never stopped dreaming. She did me good and God bless her for me.
©By Rahima Vandy Kargbo otherwise known as dasalonetiti Rahima
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