this tree, as his father, my late husband used to do, and talk to you many times in the future. We shall see; it is all in the gift of God. Ed-Lamin, perhaps you will greet your audience and talk to them for a short while? Remember, many of them have homes far away to which they must return tonight?'
The Imam, who just happened to be in the crowd, led the prayers for God's guidance and gift of wisdom, then sat on the sand next to Sirra. The gathering looked at Ed, who looked back at them.
'Alkalo and Imam of Malinding village, neighbours, friends. Greetings; it is kind of you to come to hear my poor words. There is more wisdom facing me than ever I can reflect back to you. So I ask you, what can I talk to you about?'
'England, the Motherland, talk to us about England!' a babble of voices repeated the suggestion. 'Speak to us of England; we hear too many lies.' 'We have family there but we no longer hear from them.' 'The truth, we need to hear the truth.' He took a deep breath.
'I do not know if there is a truth I can speak about England. I can tell you this though: I lived there for half my life and thought it was my home. I continued my education there, met the woman I wished to be with for the rest of my life there, lived with her in a house we called home and fathered a child. For all that time, though my roots were here, in this village, I expected to live the greater part of my life there, become part of that community and work there as a teacher. That was my dream and that is what it proved to be, just a dream.
True, I was aware that some people, natives of that land, took exception to my colour. If I spoke to them on the phone, I was English. If I met them in the street or in their offices, I was black. My skin spoke for me. I was abused, and if Jane was with me she too was called vile names. But I supposed, mistakenly, that these people were powerless because they were a tiny minority, a fraction of one percent of the population.
‘Then came a General Election and everything changed. For a variety of reasons - apathy, laziness, disillusionment about politicians who abused their status and lined their pockets and despised their voters - for many, many reasons, at that last election most people did not bother to vote. More than eighty percent stayed at home. Others, myself among them, attended the polling stations and destroyed their ballot papers. If only we had known. But the supporters of one tiny political party made sure they voted; the Purity People's Party. They voted. Every single PPP candidate was elected. For once we had a ruling party that kept its promises. They took the country out of the European Union. They closed the door to immigrants, and they did that effectively; they fined any one who brought an immigrant into the country a million pounds. Warships patrolled the English Channel and sank vessels that did not stop. People with skin like mine were rounded up and, as I saw with my own eyes, killed. Her Majesty the Queen, with all her family, were forced into exile. I do not know what happened to my Jane, and I do not dare to think about what may have become of our child. This government was clever and devious. They did not do as Hitler did; they did not build huge death camps. They used smaller places in deep countryside, in the bush as you might say. There they imprisoned, tortured and killed a few people at a time. They seem to have no difficulty recruiting killers. It was done so stealthily that even I had no idea of what was happening until I too was imprisoned. I became a non-person. I did not exist, I had no identity. My passport was taken, my qualifications were declared false, I was dismissed from my employment. I was fortunate, I suppose. I lost everything except my life. I was helped to escape by a group of people so brave, so willing to risk their lives that I must suppose them to be super-human. But they were just ordinary people who saw evil and resisted it. I do not even know the
The Imam, who just happened to be in the crowd, led the prayers for God's guidance and gift of wisdom, then sat on the sand next to Sirra. The gathering looked at Ed, who looked back at them.
'Alkalo and Imam of Malinding village, neighbours, friends. Greetings; it is kind of you to come to hear my poor words. There is more wisdom facing me than ever I can reflect back to you. So I ask you, what can I talk to you about?'
'England, the Motherland, talk to us about England!' a babble of voices repeated the suggestion. 'Speak to us of England; we hear too many lies.' 'We have family there but we no longer hear from them.' 'The truth, we need to hear the truth.' He took a deep breath.
'I do not know if there is a truth I can speak about England. I can tell you this though: I lived there for half my life and thought it was my home. I continued my education there, met the woman I wished to be with for the rest of my life there, lived with her in a house we called home and fathered a child. For all that time, though my roots were here, in this village, I expected to live the greater part of my life there, become part of that community and work there as a teacher. That was my dream and that is what it proved to be, just a dream.
True, I was aware that some people, natives of that land, took exception to my colour. If I spoke to them on the phone, I was English. If I met them in the street or in their offices, I was black. My skin spoke for me. I was abused, and if Jane was with me she too was called vile names. But I supposed, mistakenly, that these people were powerless because they were a tiny minority, a fraction of one percent of the population.
‘Then came a General Election and everything changed. For a variety of reasons - apathy, laziness, disillusionment about politicians who abused their status and lined their pockets and despised their voters - for many, many reasons, at that last election most people did not bother to vote. More than eighty percent stayed at home. Others, myself among them, attended the polling stations and destroyed their ballot papers. If only we had known. But the supporters of one tiny political party made sure they voted; the Purity People's Party. They voted. Every single PPP candidate was elected. For once we had a ruling party that kept its promises. They took the country out of the European Union. They closed the door to immigrants, and they did that effectively; they fined any one who brought an immigrant into the country a million pounds. Warships patrolled the English Channel and sank vessels that did not stop. People with skin like mine were rounded up and, as I saw with my own eyes, killed. Her Majesty the Queen, with all her family, were forced into exile. I do not know what happened to my Jane, and I do not dare to think about what may have become of our child. This government was clever and devious. They did not do as Hitler did; they did not build huge death camps. They used smaller places in deep countryside, in the bush as you might say. There they imprisoned, tortured and killed a few people at a time. They seem to have no difficulty recruiting killers. It was done so stealthily that even I had no idea of what was happening until I too was imprisoned. I became a non-person. I did not exist, I had no identity. My passport was taken, my qualifications were declared false, I was dismissed from my employment. I was fortunate, I suppose. I lost everything except my life. I was helped to escape by a group of people so brave, so willing to risk their lives that I must suppose them to be super-human. But they were just ordinary people who saw evil and resisted it. I do not even know the
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