*MRS. PHILOMENA YUMKELLA: A SOFT TOUCHER OF MANY LIVES GONE TOO SOON*
_By: Ibrahim Oushey Lansana_
When General elections were done and dusted with in 2018, at a period when many whom were naysayers of me and the NGC saw the party as a tool for constant ridicule,
I stayed at my Kortigbuma section (in Bo) residence optimistic and strategizing with hopes of a glittering future. At such a time, my neighbors, the Paul School for the Blind went through grave turbulence which the Matron of the home approached me with their concerns.
She registered that there were insufficient teaching and learning materials, insufficient food for the kids to feed on, limited beds for the children and a barrage of their needs which were touching and worth gushing tears from the eyes of anyone with humanitarian feelings. Awe-stricken I was, a politician whose party didn’t win the just concluded election; I asked her “aunty, these concerns are touching but I just lost an election, how do you think I can help salvage this situation?” She seemed frustrated at my heart rendering response.
Pondering over the abysmal situation at the Paul School for the Blind, I decided to meet Aunty Philo with their concerns and upon explicit explanation to her, she responded “Oushey let us visit the Paul School for the Blind. Their situation is so unfortunate!” A caring and loving mother she was, Aunty Philo did a feasibility studies and immediately donated 20 bags of rice and some money to the school. Guess what? Aunty Philo since then ensured the school had new buildings and has been a constant donor of food and non food items including beds, provision of solar lights, tiled floors, shoes and clothings sent to the school quarterly. The purchase of fuel for the bus which conveys the visibly challenged children to and from schools became Herculean; God-sent Aunty Philo stepped in and has been subsidizing to ensure there is always fuel for their bus. In addition, Mrs. Philomena Yumkella adopted several young and visibly challenged kids at the school aged around fours old; children she has been caring for on a daily. Such is a person I and the Paul School for the Blind in Bo City has lost.
At the news of her demise, poor Paul School for the Blind has been in ocean filled tears with many questions like how will they survive now that a soft hand which covered them has been snatched away by the cold hands of death. 🥺 As I walk since her demise, the cries of those young and needy children revolve in my ears, heart and mind; and my heart is broken.
It seems to me that Aunty Philo lived her life like a candle in the wind: never fading when the sunsets or the rain sets in. Mother Teresa of Calcutta posited that “at the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by ‘I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was naked and you clothed me, I was homeless and you took me in.’ Hungry not only for bread — but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing — but naked for human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks — but homeless because of rejection.” With her many impactful contributions in my life, the life of the Paul School for the Blind and many other individuals, groups and institutions; her footsteps will always be in our hearts.
Many questions remain unanswered; many hearts and lives remain untouched; many works remain undone; many smiles and laughters remain unseen and unheard: Aunty Philo’s candles burned out long before her legend ever will.
