Her Radical Heart

 

This is not fiction or a tall tale. This story happened to her in 2016 in a Muslim country where she worked as an ESL teacher in a government college when in one opportune moment she was asked this question: "Are you their savior?"

At that time, there was a problem with the salaries of the maintenance staff, you know, the ones who cleaned the entire campus, tended to the gardens, and repaired the facilities on a daily basis. Those men came from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, and were hired as manual laborers. They lived in one of the houses on campus.

It was the season of Ramadhan when that crisis happened. Prayers and fasting were observed, as Christians and those who came from other religious backgrounds were enjoined to observe fasting as well, which meant no canteens. Lunch was confined in the faculty lounge, and drinking of water was done discreetly so as not to be seen by Muslim colleagues. You see, fasting in the Muslim world meant no food and water. Even the swallowing of saliva wasn't allowed. But in the evenings, after the night prayers, there was the breaking of the fast as they feasted on their favorite dishes until before the dawn prayers were said.

So, what did she do to merit that question? She donated a very small amount of money and food to those men just so they could have their feast after a fast. Her contribution was only a small part of the effort of the faculty to help those men, but what set her apart was that she was the one who brought the food after cooking them. She probably did it twice or thrice with a Filipino friend who drove her to the campus. Such actuation was questioned on the basis of her gender and that daring move to reach out to those who had nothing at that time, who were men.

But why did they use the word savior? She didn't have any intention to save those men from their general predicament. She merely wanted to help, as a Christian, as a Muslim, or as anyone would do. Perhaps, they haven't had any experience of an empowered woman extending help to men.

Moreso, she didn't want to put a political spin on this, but being called a savior was a compliment (to her, at least) because she saved one or two nights of the breaking of the fast no matter how simple her preparation was for she imagined the hunger and thirst they felt after fasting for 16 hours straight that to deprive them of their food would be insanely inhuman and unChristian. She helped those men because they were the people that she saw on campus (that seemed helpless) when she arrived in the morning, during the teaching hours, and when she left at the end of the day. It didn't matter that they were not Filipinos or women (Most of the local women could not be seen in public.), as long as they needed help.

She was radical like that, and too often, people (especially those that come from conservative and different cultural backgrounds) would misunderstand her without knowing the underlying reasons for her actions.

Did she care at all for their feedback? Nope. She was unapologetic, as always, for all the good that she could do in this life. Interestingly, people may hurt her, but when she has set her heart to help those who badly needed it, you should expect her to definitely come through.