Ba

Tonight Nathalie and I were talking about our impending move to another part of town. Of course, Ieta and Suzette, the nanny and housekeeper, are going to be working at the new house. Also going with us is Ba, who is the gardener and security guard here at La Virage.

Ba came to our collective attention because Seal discovered him…Seal just love, love, loves Ba. He just wants to hang around with him. It’s one of those unexplainable kid fascinations. Maybe it’s the way Ba smells. Maybe it’s the way he sounds. Maybe it’s his unfailing patience.. If Ba is working in the yard, Seal wants to be with him. If Ba is washing the car, Ba wants to help. When Seal hears Ba’s voice, he lets out a sequeal and heads for the terrace so that he can play with Ba.

Ba’s current compensation for working six days a week is 50,000 CFA per month, which is about $100. He sleeps in an exterior room big enough for a mattress on the ground, a small table and his prayer rug. When we learned that Ba only eats breakfast, we started sharing our evening meal. Please understand that Ba is not destitute, although by Western standards, his means seem scant. Ba has a wife and five healthy children, the eldest of whom is now 19. The kids are all getting educations. He owns a home and has a fairly good-sized herd of cattle. Clearly, Ba knows how to manage his resources.

Life is going to get better when we move to the new house. There, Ba will have his own room, a real bed and a toilet/shower. He will eat three meals a day with us, inside, family-style. His income will double.

There are some realities to life in Africa that require thought. Initially, they are hard to accept because the inequity is great, in this case, the difference between Ba’s circumstances and my own. What I need to see is being revealed to me slowly, perhaps at the speed that I can absorb them. I’m learning about the historical roots of the cultural. I’m seeing the racism. I’m beginning to understand that treating others with dignity is important in the process of change.