The Coltan Kids.

gargon (71)in #writing • 8 years ago (edited)

The passenger siting next to him on the plane from Hamburg to Madrid was a man about fifty years of age, tall, thin, with a blue clean look behind the glasses without frame. He opened a little book with golden edge and with religious attitude, he entered meditation. When he finished, he offered him half of a gum with a smile and after accepting it, they started talking.

He was an English Anglican missionary who was stopping in Barajas to take another plane to the heart of Africa, Kinshasa. From there, he would drive a Jeep for couple of hours and at the end of the road a twelve years old kid called Akeelah would be waiting on a bike to make another fifteen kilometers trough a dusty road until The Mission.

—I carry with me five thousands pounds collected in several churches in London to place the electricity poles” —he said.

Akeelah has an eight years old brother called Teofilo. His mother is sick with asthma that closes her lungs every day when the sun goes down. His dad appeared dead two years ago on a road not so far from their home next to the bridge. Now, when they pass by, they always stop and pray for a while.

The passenger told him the story about Teofilo and Akeelah when he saw his brand new iphone 6s:

“The kids work in the Coltan mine for ten hours every day plus two hours they need to get there and come back in the dry season. If it rains, the way there can take longer and sometimes they need to overnight somewhere having not much to eat, keeping the dollar they make every day safe, for their sick mother that can barely walk.

—Just a single dollar every day? —He asked being very surprised.
—The kids one dollar and the adults two, some adults can make three —he answered, with a very resigned gesture.

He follows his trip without even blinking, listening to every episode. Jungles, witness of thousand stories about the Coltan kids, especially about those two children Teofilo and Akeelah with their tenacity and willpower. Before they land, he offered him his little hut and all the land he wanted to cultivate . “Cheer up, the generosity to the disadvantage people is generosity to God. He will reward you for the good you do to others and especially to my Coltan people.

—“I wish I can, you stories are very inspiring but I need to finish my studies.
—Don´t worry, he answered with a big smile. Charles Darwin wanted to be an Anglican Priest and God guided him on the University path. The ways of God…!

They said goodbye to each other and they exchange emails.

Yesterday he received a very disturbing email: “Dear friend: one week ago the river overflowed and covered the bridge. Teofilo was taken by the current and he got stuck between some trees. His brother tried to reach him on a desperate move but it was too risky. They were alone as usual and Akeelah didn’t have a cell phone. What an irony, working on a coltan mine and not having a cell phone. He couldn’t find anyone, so he run for help to the next village but by the time he came back with some help, his brother was already dead.

I just wanted to share this with you as I remember I talked to you a lot about these little brothers on the plane we shared. I hope you come some time to visit anytime soon and change your mind about spending sometime in The Mission with us helping the Coltan People.

Sinceresley yours
Jose Luis Ormijana