I Remember Wura..
It’s a new year and we all have expectations. Sometimes we get discouraged when things don’t happen the way we expect or the way we plan. This is a story to encourage you that while you’re waiting, something good could come to you from an expected source. Remember that its ok to get fed up but its not ok to give up. Do not confuse the two.
During my Youth Service days in Lagos, I discovered a nice and cheap hair salon where I could get my hair and nails done at a reasonable price.The owner of the salon, Kofo was a nice lady. We got along very well and because she was extra nice to me I used to stay a little longer with her to catch up on some salon gossip.
Kofo’s salon was located in the garage of a storey building and her landlord had a house help named Wura.
Wura was super hardworking. She was the type that usually finished her chores in record time and then she’d begin to search for other things to keep her busy. She always had a lot of free time because of her speed and diligence in handling her chores so she spent most of that time in the salon with Kofo. In no time, Wura began to learn how to make hair and fix nails just by watching Kofo. She became very good at it. I particularly remember the day I dozed off while she washed my hair. She was that good.
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Apart from being very hardworking, Wura was also very funny. The way she combined the English and Yoruba language was comical. When she tried to speak in English, the result was always catastrophic and humorous too. It always ended with verbal missiles and whatnots. We enjoyed engaging her in conversations, she was not deterred.
I had gone to the salon one Sunday evening and I noticed that there was party going on in the main house. When I asked what the party was about, I received the surprise of my life.
It happened that a few years earlier, Wura’s employer and along with her husband and four children had applied for the American visa lottery and while filling out the forms, one of them noticed that there was an extra form and he suggested that it should be used for Wura. This suggestion was greeted with hearty laughter and cynical remarks, but somehow the form was filled out anyway. The family waited weeks and months anticipating the news that they had won the lottery but nothing of that sort happened for a long time. Alas! the long awaited email finally arrived with the news…Wura had won the lottery!!!
So all the noise was for her send forth party. She was leaving for America that evening and she seemed utterly clueless about what was going on. The only thing she knew was that she was going to America but she didn’t understand the whole process and how it happened.
Wura’s story is a reminder that good things can come to us when we least expect it. This was an illiterate maid who became an American citizen overnight. No one saw this coming, just as no one will expect the blessings coming your way in the new year.