One day, as I went to see a friend, I found him with a group of other friends under the shade of a tree. They were discussing with great passion a radio program that they had just heard, and that was about “planning our life.” According to the host of that show, many men and women in my country spend two thirds of their time looking for a better life without ever finding it; many have no job and no home, and depend on their family, feeling that their life is on a slippery slope, with no security and no tomorrow.
The host of the radio program had therefore invited the younger generation to wake up, adding that people should not hesitate to leave the country and go elsewhere, if they had the opportunity. These words had upset my friends. Many were already thinking about the best way to get out of the country, in the hope of finding a better life abroad. Some were so angry at the idea of being trapped and unable to change their situation that they were ready to resort to violence, if needed, to find a solution.
Walking back home, as I thought about that heated conversation with my friends, I was filled with fear. I was finding the reasoning and conclusions of the radio host more and more pertinent. At that time, I was working for the Christian Science Reading Room as a volunteer. I was finding it difficult to make ends meet, and often could not even meet my most basic needs. Troubled by these negative thoughts, I considered following up on a friend’s offer I had previously received to leave the country with his financial support. However, that meant leaving my volunteer work at the Reading Room.
