My female friend vanished for about nine months. During that period of time, I ran into her once while traveling in an Okada (a popular three-wheeled taxi imported from china), that can carry up to four passengers. She told me that she was working in Kumasi and for that reason, I rarely saw her. The City of Kumasi is the second largest metropolis in Ghana. It is also the capital of The Ashanti Region. Having a population of approximately 4 million people. This large city suffers from gross traffic congestion and inadequate roads. After alighting at the corner of Berlin Road and Prepapa Avenue. She appeared to be holding out her hand as she received some money from the male passenger who had been seated beside her. I assumed that this was one of her relatives and continued to the Town of Berekum, my ultimate destination. A few months later I saw her again on one of my diurnal evening walks and she told me that she was broke and requested some money. As per usual I had none with me, but I promised to fulfill her request when I saw her again the following evening. The succeeding day I came to the realization that I couldn’t go walking later since it would be Friday night. The Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday…”From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.” Leviticus 23:32 (KJV).
Over the years I have learned from painful experiences that adhering to the Sabbath commandment was always in my best interest, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11. The following Monday afternoon, I ran into her at the corner of Sofokyere Avenue and Ahenema Lane. She expressed disappointment with me for not keeping my previous promise. My immediate response was, “Well, I’m here now.” I handed her 50.00 GHS and she seemed content to accept that amount of money from me. Then she informed me that she was in training to become a Beautician and that she was going to need financial help. I advised her that I needed someone to clean my two bedrooms, 21/2 bathrooms, large hall, large dining room, front and back porches, and large garage, apartment. I advised her that she should just come and work two full days weekly. Then I would pay her 300.00 GHS monthly. She agreed.
Eventually, she told me that she was no longer in Kumasi because even though she had a job there before. It was far too strenuous for her and she quit. She was now training at a small beauty salon located at an unnamed junction at the end of Ahenema Lane. There were three other girls being trained along with her but they were all at different stages of their professional preparation. They were under the supervision and tutelage of a certain Madam and she appeared to be extremely strict and uncompromising. They all had to work twelve to sixteen hours daily, six days each week, and none of them was being compensated. This was difficult for me to understand, but then I also remembered that most of the girls working in Berekum. Had to work similar hours and were only being paid 200.00 GHS (US$13.00) to 250.00 GHS (US$16.25) monthly. There were a few exceptions to this prevailing practice, but they were few and far between. I often wondered how they survived economically? But then I remembered that the Ghana Cedi has a great deal of purchasing power here in Ghana. Items that are imported are expensive but those locally produced such as yam, plantain, bananas, fish et cetera are affordable. Since the main dietary items for Ghanaians are Banku and Fufu.
Nancy (my friend) commenced working at my home in a timely manner the following Monday morning. She seemed to be a good worker. She swept and mopped all of the rooms and even dusted the furniture. Afterward, she ironed all of the clothes in the full laundry basket. Then she made dinner for both of us consisting of onions, garlic, eggs, cocoa yam leaves, and sardines (at my request). This dish is locally known as Indomie. It’s a popular meal in Ghana. Things continued more or less like this for about one month. In the second month of her employment, she said to me, “Mr. James, I’m almost naked because I hardly have any clothes to wear and I especially need some for church.” I asked her how much she needed and she requested 260.00 GHS (US$16.60). I gave her exactly what she asked for. One evening Nancy called me to report that she was sick and added that her friends advised that she was suffering from Gonorrhea. My response was, “That’s impossible because you are a virgin.” Moreover, I said, “In my opinion, you have a Urinary Tract Infection.” I called my physician the following day and took him to a shed overshadowed by a giant Karoo tree that towered into the sky. This was approximately 75 yards from the beauty shop. Then I summoned her to meet us there. She described her symptoms to the doctor. His diagnosis was consistent with my opinion.
I accompanied my physician on his motorcycle as we rode together over the uneven and extremely bumpy dirt road from Sofokyere Avenue. Straight to the paved asphalt road that we were grateful to traverse on our journey into Berekum. We both dismounted at one of the large pharmacies in Town and purchased the medication that Nancy would need to ameliorate her symptoms. I personally took all of them to the shed beneath the giant tree near her beauty shop and summoned her. She promptly came and when I delivered them to her I advised her that she would need to include oranges in her diet regularly. Because vitamin C would prevent the recurrence of this problem per the physician’s orders. The following morning I took a bag of groceries to the shop including a dozen oranges and delivered them to Nancy. Whereupon she thanked me and announced to her colleagues that I was her husband. I held my peace because they replied, “Since he is your husband then he will have to be a husband to all of us.” Two months later she came down with the very same complaint again and after I advised the physician he prescribed the same medication. I went and collected them at the same pharmacy and delivered them to her.
The physician’s professional services were not pro bono, and the required medication had to be paid for in full. But I recognized that Nancy was poor. She couldn’t afford these expenses and so I paid for everything on her behalf. When I was a young person, my family’s resources were limited, to say the least. I was the personal beneficiary of many charitable acts of kindness and altruism. Without such acts of humanitarianism, the world would quickly come to a grinding halt. Because only a small fraction of the planet’s population of eight billion people are millionaires or billionaires. There is a great deal of wealth on our planet. Nevertheless there is also a vast amount of poverty. During His sermon on The Mount Jesus taught the importance of sharing with others, “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:34-37 (NKJV).
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