The History of S

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S is an individual like so many others that wonder about this world, desperately, trying to overcome all the irony filled hurdles that life presents to her.
In any society she will be another miniscule part of the whole picture, and will fell like most of us in the cracks of anonymity.
S is originally from Guinea-Bissau, a country that has been dominated by hatred and war, for almost ten years. Like so many fellow countrymen, S choose to leave Guinea with her 4 daughters and settle down in a country that would offer more stability. Anywhere would do, as long as she would not have to worry about leaving her daughters, while she went to work and got home to find one or two dead, who knows maybe all. Nobody knows, what lies ahead!
S has her own attitude towards life. A good friend of ours once referred about her, as she was a sort of uncommon angel, one of those mystical characters that altruistically give all that they can for anyone in need.
In Portugal, she got separated from her first husband, and got married a second time.
In Guinea, inviting all your friends and family to a party, where the couple informs them about the intention of living together from here on end, is considered a marriage ceremony.
A 5th daughter came as a result of that marriage.
Today with 5 daughters, S works hard to support their daughters and give them all that she could not give in her home. Her stamina sees no limit when it comes to be good to someone. Once, a while back, her first husband got a stroke, and became invalid. Although she had her responsibilities with her family and her job, she would always take some time of her day, travelling for over 2 hours to take care of him for 1 hour, a hour and a half, to make a another 2 hour journey home, only then she could care for her 5 children in peace.
Another proof S's altruism comes from a support that she gave to a friend of hers when she got sick. Possessed by her true sense of care she would go there for many hours to take care of her friend, cook for her and her friend's son, before going home and take care of her own family.
About two years ago, a woman came to Portugal as a refugee from Guinea, after her husband was shot in front of her son. The blast of the shot was so powerful that the boy got fragments of the shell in his leg and had to be brought to Portugal. Her own family neglected to care for her and there were many days in the winter where she would find her son out on the street. Fortunately, S was her neighbour and immediately agreed to care for her son and helped her find a job, so that she could support herself and her son. She even made a collect of old clothes to give to the little boy, who walked out on the street in many cold mornings wearing a small jacket, his shorts brought from Guinea and a pair of sandals.
Currently, both the boy and the woman are well, thanks to the first push that came from S and a group of people that shed some hope into this lost woman.

Recently, S found out that one of her daughters suffers from epilepsy, with a very worrying condition. The doctors in Portugal show little promise for any effective treatment, so S believes that in her home country, a medicine man may have the knowledge to cure her sick daughter.
Because plane trips are so expensive and the money the S earns in month has to be enough to support 5 people in a house, with all the different expenses that each one was. She asked her boss to work in a double shift, so that she could earn enough money to take her sick daughter back to Guinea, in the hope of finding the promised treatment. Some of the money she now earns is also spent in food that is sent in a large container for her poor family back home.

Today S had a busy day. Some events that I learned about this day, lead me to write this blog to you.

S got a call from her oldest daughter. Apparently, she and 2 younger sisters were caught travelling in the subway using someone else's pass.
They were detained by the person who overseas the tickets and the passes. As they told their story, the supervisors felt sorry for them, and allow them to call to S.
This is the situation was I perceived it.
S's second oldest daughter is 8 month pregnant and was coming from the doctor, after doing a routine check. S is now 38 years old, and is soon to become a grandma, having 6 kids to care in 2004.
S had given money to their daughters for them to buy tickets to go to the doctor. However in their own naïve way they choose to carry someone else pass in order to save a few quarters.
By being caught, they could have been taken to the Immigration Services to check if their status was legal, which is not and risked being deported, for felony and prevented from coming back for a considerable amount of time.
God, however, cares for their angels, and transpires inspiration to solve problems.
The supervisor felt sorry for the 3 girls, particularly for the one who was pregnant and brought them back to S at work, where she had work to do. No complaint was charged, no fine had to be paid, no problems were raised at the Immigration services.
Despite all the hard aches in S's life, she goes own overcoming all the barriers with the humility that she always transpired. In 2004 she will go to Guinea after many years without seeing her family, to help her sick daughter and to introduce her 4-year-old daughter to the grandmother, who she never saw before.
Life can be beautiful with little chapters of good and bad.

Listening: Jan Garbarek - Path, Prints
Reading: Physics by Colleta (Particularly the chapter about Sound and Waves)
Seeing: An old episode of Star Trek - that was about 2 pm (12 hours ago)
Enjoying: Life and Writing.