North to Paradise

by Ousman Umar

One of the saddest things I learned on my journey is that in this life, no one gives you anything for free. They always want something in exchange: it’s human nature. Or at least, it’s the nature of the system that humans live in.

On my journey north, I saw so many people behaving worse than animals, motivated by such greed that they had no humanity. But then a person who was more vulnerable and exploited than I was reached out and shared what little she had. These are the moments that I try to remember, moments of our shared humanity.

The connection house was a heart-wrenching, horrible place, especially for a devout young Muslim like me, who prayed every day. You could get anything in that connection house. The only thing you couldn’t find was God.