My treasured Liberian staff person Calvin called at noon today and asked, "Are you sitting down?" My response, "What’s wrong Calvin?" with a deep sense of dread. "Your dear friend Evelyn died today." "NO!" was all I could say…Evelyn and I have been friends for years. She lives alone in a small dirt-floor shack house around the corner from my home in Liberia. She would walk passed my front door daily with her plastic bucket filled with small things she tried to sell to anyone she encountered along the beach, her only source of "small-small" money. I often bought all the small bags of nuts and candies she had in her bucket, carefully counting out the total in Liberian dollars; always the equivalent of just a few US dollars. I would bring the treats to our FFW office and share them with the team, all of whom know of my dear friendship with Evelyn.
Walking was not easy for Evelyn as several years ago she had a stroke so drags one leg along behind her. She has no idea when she was born or how old she is. She has lived alone for as long as she can remember. She has one son who "never comes around." She is my dear and treasured sister. We have a very special connection. She was present when Samuel and I married on the beach she always walks last December.
When I left Liberia in March, uncertain when I would be able to return due to the pandemic, we talked of how much we would miss each other. I promised to stay in touch via Calvin and others.
I have often wondered why she was born where she was and I was born where I was – how of the 7+ million people on the planet, we found each other and became such dear friends. A God-thing as son Moses would say.
Our FFW food security program which we launched in April in Liberia kept Evelyn and so many in food these last many beyond stressful months. It has been incredibly hard to be away from her and so many since this lockdown began…
Please join me in praying that her soul may rest in peace – and the knowing that we are indeed one human family.
With love and gratitude,
When I left Liberia in March, uncertain when I would be able to return due to the pandemic, we talked of how much we would miss each other. I promised to stay in touch via Calvin and others.
I have often wondered why she was born where she was and I was born where I was – how of the 7+ million people on the planet, we found each other and became such dear friends. A God-thing as son Moses would say.
Our FFW food security program which we launched in April in Liberia kept Evelyn and so many in food these last many beyond stressful months. It has been incredibly hard to be away from her and so many since this lockdown began…
Please join me in praying that her soul may rest in peace – and the knowing that we are indeed one human family.
With love and gratitude,
Deborah Lindholm
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