Sunburn

Paranoia

I woke to the sound of an engine and rubbed my eyes in an attempt to open them but the luxury of sleep was to much and I drifted back to my dreams. Only to be woken again by voices. They were quite near and they sounded foreign. I immediately thought of the cruel doctor and knew that I had to get up for Bakari's sake. I went to the front of the shelter and saw the foreigners standing around a massive car with loads of filming equipment. One of them turned around and saw me. I was suddenly over come with terror and I rushed back into the shelter to hide from them. I sat paranoid of every sound and movement until several minutes passed and my curiosity got the better of me. I stuck my head around the edge of the cloth and stood peering at them for a while. One of them was being treated by a woman who looked like a doctor. The man had a large gash down his leg which she treated with ease before sending him away. I realised that she might be able to help Bakari so I approached her slowly. She saw me and beckoned me over. She seemed friendly enough so I went.

After a long conversation with a translator (because the doctor didn't speak my language) She picked up her medical kit and we walked over to see Bakari. It turned out that they were a film crew from the 'One of us' organisation which helped poor children all over Africa. The had come to our village to make a television appeal for some one in England somewhere to send some money to the children involved so that they could find better lives for themselves. The hadn't found any children to participate yet so I hoped that me and Bakari might be chosen. “He will be all right in a day or two,” the doctor told me in her stumbling Swahili. I was overjoyed by this news so I thanked the doctor greatly before giving Bakari a huge get well hug. The director, Antoni, came over to us with a great big smile on his face. “Amali?” he questioned. I nodded.“Is there any chance of you being in our appeal?” “Yes,” I answered him. “I would love to”.