Growing up in this part of the world (West Africa) as child can be very interesting, especially if your family fall within any of the categories of wealth except the wealthy population.
My family happened to fall within the middle-class category and was also very religious (Christians to be specific) and believe me when I say growing up in such a setting is almost unbelievable.
Among all my unique experiences while growing up there is one which I can vividly remember even though it happened a very long time ago. And I will be sharing the story with you today so get ready...
It all began when I returned home from school that fateful evening, I was in primary school then preparing to take final exams for entry into junior secondary school so I usually stay back at school after closing hour for extra lessons to prepare for the overrated entry exam. So on getting home that evening, Mon told me to hurry up with my food because Dad had directed her to send me on an errand so I did just that.
About an hour later, I was on my way to Uncle Tony's house to deliver an envelope containing 6k to him from my Dad. Uncle Tony was our Sunday school teacher in church and a very nice fellow, I love running errands to his house because whenever I do he usually welcomes me warmly and serve me food with plenty fish and also some biscuits to take home. So running errands to his house was actually a thing of joy to me or should I say my favourite hobby. But little did I know that today will not end as usual
Halfway to Uncle Tony's house I saw a crowd of mainly adults and some youngsters all sounding very excited and some amazed, so I approached the crowd to know what exactly was going on.
The first lad I asked seemed a little more confused than I was and got more confused when I asked him, the second person was another boy but he was too excited to even explain properly. At this point I was contemplating to just continue on my assignment and let this people be but on second thought I decided to ask one more person who happened to be an elderly woman, she pointed out to me two men wearing white gowns and black turbans and said they were money doublers and then I noticed a long queue in front of them waiting to get their money doubled.
Wow, and I almost missed such an opportunity, but I don't even have any money to be doubled at the first place. At this point I decided to double the 6k Dad gave me for Uncle Tony, I already did the math and hoped to use the extra 6k to purchase a handset which is to be my top secret till after graduation.
Wow I'm such a genius. I immediately joined the queue and soon it was my turn to met this benevolent creatures which I did with such joy and expectations. After giving them the 6k, they gave me a neatly wrapped parcel with instructions not to open until nightfall. This means I may not give Uncle Tony the money till tomorrow then but who cares anyway, afterall I'll have 6k all to myself. So I collected the parcel and waited patiently unti everyone was gone including my dear money doublers and finally it was nightfall.
When I opened the parcel I discovered it was full of papers cut to the shape of money. I was speechless for two minutes and slowly reality dawned on me, I have been scammed, my benevolent gentlemen were actually scammers and I've just lost the 6k meant for good Uncle Tony.
I tried to think of what next to do but I was already sweating profusely even though the weather was a bit cold and I felt something dripping down my cheeks, OMG it is tears. What do u do now? How do I explain this to my Dad? were some of the countless questions clouding my mind. At the same time I remembered it was already very dark and my people will certainly be searching for me.
Well just as I was standing on same spot getting more confused with each minute passing i saw some people flashing torches at me and heard my name "Joel, Dad it's him" I immediately recognised the voice, it was my younger sister. It seems they've been searching for me everywhere they could think of before coming to the field where I've been scammed.
Everyone was happy that I wasn't abducted and oy the money was lost so they took me home shoulder high with much excitement and I felt relieved for the meantime. However when I got home after the celebration galore my dad gave me the beating of my life and also stopped giving me allowance for breaktime in school like he normally do. And also he restricted me from using a handset till after junior secondary school although I broke the rule immediately I got admitted to the school LOL.
It was really an experience indeed.