TIMELESS KINDNESS

On a break day from our education aid work in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, the RATA team of teachers, staff and a number of children piled into a van to drive to the Elmina Castle on the Ghanaian Coast. It was built in 1482 by the Portuguese and by the 18th century, 30,000 slaves passed through the Door Of No Return each year on their way to North and South America.

After a long drive, our first view was of crows flying in circles around the high castle walls. The  crows reminded me of vultures looking for their prey. Inside the main building we walked into a cell. It smelt damp and reeked of despair. We held rusty chains and knew that once, long ago they were around the bloody ankles of slaves about to leave Africa. We went upstairs and looked through a trapdoor to the floor below. Here the commandant would look down from his room and choose the next slave to have for his pleasure as they filed past. Awful beyond words.

We then came to the Door of No return. This door led to a small room that the slaves were held in just before they left on a sailing ship, never to return. The terrible conditions on board meant that thousands died before setting foot on foreign lands. I tentatively walked into the gloom and as my eyes adjusted to the light, I noticed some wreaths lying against the wall. I squinted as I read the attached messages and I was moved to tears.

One message read, ‘Great, great, great, great … Grandpa, I never knew you. I wanted to say that I love you. Though I never met you, you have always been in my heart. Love forever’. This message and other messages were written by Afro-Americans, whose ancestors left this castle hundreds of years ago. These beautiful, kind words went back in time and then forwards to the present day. 

Love beats hurt, hate and horror. Love won.


POINTS to PONDER.

I wrote to my mum and dad, while they were still alive and told them why I loved them. I was a  blubbering mess by the time I had finished! Consider writing to a member of your family or a close friend and tell them why they are loved and special.

Kind words transcend time, place and people. They are words of healing, hope and thankfulness.



Comments

  1. family coachApril 7, 2023 at 10:30 AM

    Thank you Steve, such a timely reminder that all of us have words of kindness or appreciation and unless we speak or write them down, others will never know how we felt.

    ReplyDelete

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