THE TWELVE-season 3,episode 12

                                                               SIERRA LEONE

The prayers at the mosque had ended and nothing was as horrifying for Maul even though they didn’t get into the mosque because they were not properly dressed for it. She had urged them to go severally but Zed wanted them to wait till the prayers were done so they will get a chance to talk to the children. As the thousands of people started streaming out, Zed and her crew realized they wouldn’t get a chance to talk to the children that way, nobody even noticed them, they just discussed in their language as they passed them.

“Let’s go in and have a look at the mosque inside,” Zed said.

“What, Zed are you going crazy?” Maul retorted.

“I am not going crazy ok, trust me you will love it in there. I and the boys use to sneak into mosque like this and the view inside is amazing.”

“What if we get caught?”  Marshall asked.

“The world will come for our rescue,” He smiled at her. “Common guys,” He ran through the few people who were still leaving the mosque, Maul and the others followed him. When they got into the mosque, there were no chairs just a few mats spread across the huge hall. They had an alter but no pulpit, Maul and the others were a little scared but Zed confidently led the way, it was a life he was once used to. In their minds they knew they were all alone but that thought was quickly erased with great fear as they saw an alahadji leaving from the door at the altar. They thought of going back but it was too late, he had already spotted them.

“Imposters,” He yelled and his voice echoed in the hall. He came down from the altar with his hands wrapped behind him and approached them, they were shivering and Maul couldn’t stop blaming Zed in her heart.

“We are not imposters,” Zed managed to speak and luckily for them the man recognized them as part of the twelve.

“You,” He pointed at them both. “I know you, aren’t part of the twelve?”

“We are,” Maul said hoping that will help.

“What are you kids doing here?” he asked.

“Well sir,” Zed hesitated.

“Omar, call me Omar… no sir,”

“Okay, we came for……”

“Vacation,” He interrupted. “Why will you choose Sierra Leone of all the countries in the world?”

They didn’t have an answer.

“Though I’m not a huge fan,” He said. “But I enjoyed your story as the twelve, how you boys fought to make your dreams come through…… almost getting yourselves killed, was there any truth in that story by the way?”

“Everything you heard was the truth, I am a black Botswana boy, grew up in the streets just like you heard.”

“And the meeting in the middle of the sea?”

“All true,” Maul was finally calm.

“Excellent, then God has just blessed the nation of Sierra Leone with your coming here, where are the others?”

“We separated,” Maul said.

“Separated,”

“Not like that,” Zed told him. “They went to their own place of vacation,”

“Understood, I will like you to come and share some of your experience with the children here.”

That was a delight for the children hearing it.

“Though some of them don’t understand English I will get you an interpreter. How long will you be here?”

“Six months,” Nora said.

“Good, that’s time enough to transform the mindset of the Sierra Leone kids; I will be expecting you here on Monday 5:00pm.”

“We will be there sir…… Omar,” Maul smiled at him but he didn’t find anything she said funny.

“Leave the mosque,” He said and went back to the room he came from. The children ran out of the mosque jubilantly because of what had just happened and the opportunity they had just gotten.

ZIMBABWE

                   Later the next day, Larry and his crew went to the house Shania had told them about. The entrance to the house was more like a dungeon, dark, cold and wet. The door was opened but they could not see anything inside the house because it was dark and shielded with a white blind that had turned brown. The young woman who had the place met them outside while coming to throw the dirt she was holding. She looked stressed and pale and she was very welcoming and friendly just like every good mother should be. Though she was not sure of what the six beautiful and handsome neat young teenagers wanted with her that late afternoon, she still attended to them.

“Good afternoon,” Larry greeted and the others smiled at her. Shania was not comfortable yet.

“Good afternoon,” she replied. “How may I help you?” she asked.

“We came to see you,” Larry told her.

She became nervous. “Why? I heard some rich kids were around our area are you lost?” she was polite.

“No,” Shania managed to speak. “I passed by here yesterday and I saw you taking care of some children…. Are they yours?”

She smiled. “No but I consider them mine, I took them in because they had nowhere else to go.”

A little boy came out from the house and whispered loudly to her.

“Edna, Memphis is dying. You mustn’t let her die,” He wept.

The woman smiled hopelessly and fearfully. “There is nothing I can do,” she looked away from that desperate gaze clouded with the pain of losing a child. She attended back to Shania and her crew who were staring at her.

“You know, don’t you Edna,” Shania said. “You won’t let her die right?”

Tears brimmed in Edna’s eyes; she bit her lips and shook her head glancing at the boy going away in tears.

“You have to save her,” Paco told her.

“I can’t save her,” She shouted tearfully. “I’ve tried all I can to save her and no one wants to help. They keep starving to dead; Memphis will starve to dead because I don’t have anything more to do.”

“Where are they?” Shania asked.

“In there?”

“Can we see them please?”

“Yes,” She led them into the house and they were shocked by what they saw. Ten children, four girls and six boys lying on the floor mat. Their eyes had become very white and they almost looked like skeletons, they saw the boy who had spoken to Edna outside lying beside the girl Memphis who was dying. Shania held her mouth with her hand and tears was streaming down their eyes, they were stricken with compassion and pity for the dying and hopeless children they saw.

“Paco,” Shania whispered, her voice was shaking. “Go with Miguel, run and get….. The supplements we came with, the juice and the water. Get money and buy whatever fruits you can find and then bring it, you will go back for food at the restaurant we always eat.”

They both nodded with tears in their eyes and rushed off.

“I have water in my back,” Ruby said. “And some supplements we can give her to hold on till they get back.”

“Yes Ruby, bring it.”  Larry said. Edna gave them space to do whatever they wanted to do, the other children watched as they raised Memphis to sit up with Shania holding her bony self to her chest sitting on the mat. Shania forgot about the awful scent that was oozing from her body, all she cared about was to see Memphis revived out of that situation.

“You are going to be fine ok, God please don’t let her die…… God won’t let you die,” She spoke to her ears as if she could hear her. Ruby fed the water into her mouth and she managed to drink it struggling with life and dead. The children started sobbing; they had less energy to cry. Larry and Soledad went about consoling them, fitting into their mouth the supplements and vitamins Ruby had given. They sweetness of the supplements and vitamins made them stop crying and they like what was in their mouths, it helped them regain energy and Edna was relieved, she helped all the children up with the hope that something good was about to happen to them. Few minutes later, Paco and Miguel brought all the things they were asked to bring. The children were served with good drinking water, some fruits and more vitamins and supplements were given to them, Memphis life was saved though she was still weak but she was not dying anymore. The children had been sustained while Paco and Miguel had gone to buy the kind of food Edna had suggested will be good for the children at that moment. Memphis was one of the youngest kids in the house and Shania was carrying her and feeding her, Larry was proud of her and so were the others.

LIBERIA

                  Lindsay, Ben and their assistants were going through the books they had brought with them.

“You know I think we over estimated this children,” Barbra said.

“How do you mean?” Lindsay asked her.

“I mean look at the books. Big topics, large chapters with words that can confuse your mind, giving these books to these children will be like giving a toothless baby an apple to bite.”

They all smiled.

“We can’t give them these books, at least not just yet.” Ben said. “What we need to do is make them know they can recover from whatever situation they are in now, make them know there is a big possibility for them to be free from this slavery they were put in.”

“But how do we do that?” Annabel asked. “They just think we are here to flood them with gifts and food or maybe create a connection between them and the rich world.”

“If we keep asking ourselves that question we might not even find an answer for the next six months we have to be here.” Lindsay said. “We have to start anyhow with any little opportunity we find and that is why we won’t stop going out till we get the children’s attention.”

And that’s all they needed to hear. They nodded in agreement and repacked all the books they brought.