Questions

As many of my friends know, I am fascinated in learning about other peoples cultures, backgrounds, stories, etc. I believe each and every person has some type of story/experience/knowledge to share that will enrich and enhance the minds of others. How often do we encounter the same people on a regular basis but yet we never stop to learn something about them? This person could be the FedEx guy that drops packages at your office building each morning or the barista that you see every other time you go get your Saturday Starbucks. Why don't we take the time to get to know them on a first name basis? It doesn't take much, you don't have to spend an hour talking to them about their favorite movie, but why not take the time [and it doesn't take much] to create some type of relationship with them. It doesn't mean you have to become friends with them and hang out with them on the weekends but by simply addressing someone by their first name creates a completely different kind of experience for the both of you. You never know what you can learn for someone.
I have been going to the same hairdresser for over a year now. I had wanted to try a new salon so one day I went to the mall and decided to try out one of the salons there. The woman that cut my hair that day had a thick accent, but I wasn't too sure where it was from. I thought that it was either an island accent or an some type of African accent. I ended up loving how she cut my hair that day and have continued to go back to her ever since. This past June she texted all of her clients saying that she was 'going back home' for a month due to her dad passing away. I still did not know where she was from because I had yet to ask her. Every time I went to to get my haircut I wanted to ask because I was curious, but I just never did. We would talk a little, but usually the background noises at the salon were loud enough that if our conversation trickled off it didn't seem awkward.
Two weeks ago I was in dire need of a haircut. I contacted Joyce and she said that she could cut my hair at her cousins house the following day. Since she was cutting my hair in a home the environment was completely different. It was just me and her without the noises of other people bustling around us. I couldn't get away with being shy and not making conversation this time. Since I was so curious about where she was from I finally asked. She let out a half laugh/half sigh and said "Liberia... you know the one that is all over the news right now." She went on to tell me that every time she sees a news segment on Ebola she worries about her family that still resides in Liberia. Every time she calls her mom she is scared that she is going to hear bad news. Thankfully, her family lives on the opposite side of the country from where the outbreak is. Hearing her tell me this was so eye opening to me. Obviously Ebola, along with other diseases/social issues/etc, are real things that have real effects, but they don't really become real  to us until someone we know or we ourselves are faced with it.
Joyce has two siblings that have also moved out of Liberia. She has a brother that also lives in America and a sister that I believe lives in Europe. Joyce came over to America 12 years ago with her dad. Her dad was a pastor in Liberia and would come to the US for conferences. In 2002 Joyce joined him on one of his conference trips. Unfortunately, while they were here war had broken out and their return flight had been canceled. They were temporarily stuck in America. Her brother who already lived here, offered to file paperwork for Joyce to become a US citizen. She decided to do it and eventually her dad returned to Africa while she stayed. After he dad passed away (not from Ebola, for the record) her and her siblings tried convincing her mother to move to America. Her mother refused to live her 'children' though.... yes, you heard that right. Joyce's mom has 45 children that depend on her. These children are the orphans that are a part of the ministry that Joyce's mother and father had built on their property. The story of how they started their orphanage is absolutely fascinating as well as heartbreaking yet also heartwarming all at the same time.
Back in 1989 a civil war in Liberia broke out. Joyce, who was 12 at the time, and her family lived in the capital. By the time the war reached the capital it was 1990. It was a day like any other, parents woke up and went to work while children ventured off to school. No one knew that the rebels were going to attack their city that day, but unfortunately it happened while families were in separate places, all spread out doing their daily routines. When the rebels came they ordered people to leave the city and go to other places. Some people were sent north, others east, etc etc. Since parents were at work and children were at school many families were split up and sent in opposite directions. The rebels threatened that if they tried to go find their family, they were at risk of being killed. Thankfully on that day Joyce, her siblings, and her parents were all at home. They set out to the camp that they were ordered to go to. As they were walking down the street they saw a child in their school uniform crying on the corner because they could not find their parents. Joyce's mom and dad knew that they could not leave this child to fend for themselves so they told the child to join them. They walked a little further and came across more and more children who were confused and parent-less. By the time they reached the camp, Joyce's parents had 60 extra children with them. Joyce's father had to figure out how he was going to feed them all and how they were going to take care of them while in camp. Somehow they made it work and when they were able to return to their city months later all the children made the journey back with them. Some of the children's parents also made it back to the city from wherever they had been stationed at. Those children returned to their parents, happily reunited. Unfortunately, there were children whose parents were never going to show up... and that is when Joyce's mother knew that they had to build a ministry and continue to care for these children that she had grown to love as her own. Over the years Joyce's parents have cared for many orphaned children.
When Joyce went back to Liberia for her fathers funeral she said the amount of people that showed up was overwhelming. Among her fathers church parishioners there was also the children that they had taken care of over the years. They showed up to his funeral with their own families, wives and kids of their very own. How powerful would that be to see? These adults with their own families who were once children left without a family. Not only is that fascinating, but the way that Joyce told this story was as well. She told it so casually, as if people just do these types of things and live through these types of experiences. I kept asking more and more questions because I was so intrigued, and I kept finding more and more out. At first she had just told me that her mom ran in orphanage but I would have never known the whole background story if I hadn't keep inquiring about the orphanage. I am so happy that I did continue to ask questions because not only did I learn so much about someone I see regularly, but I also got a mini unintentional history lesson.
Hearing Joyce's (and her family's) story was so powerful. It made me realize once again how good I have it. I don't have to worry about a civil war breaking out anytime soon, nor do I have to worry about catching Ebola on a daily basis (among many, many other others). It also made me step back and question what have I accomplished in my life?! Here you have people taking responsibility for other humans without even second guessing themselves. They just knew what they had to do, and they did it, phenomenally. Although opening up an orphanage isn't in my plans, I do hope that one day I will have an interesting story of my own that is even half as touching as this one.

xoxo,
Kaila