Photo Credit: Salum Ndezi

La Vida Puede Cambiar Súbitamente

Cuando empieza un año nuevo, con 365 días por delante, veo 365 oportunidades frente a mí.
DR of the Congo, Middle Africa

Story by Salum Ndezi. Translated by Leonardo Ismael Pérez Correa
Published on March 14, 2021.

This story is also available in GB ar de fr ir it kr



Nací en la ciudad de Bukavu, la parte Oriental de la República Democrática del Congo. Cuando tenía cinco años, mi madre cayó enferma de Lepra. Mi padre la llevó a muchos hospitales alrededor de la ciudad, pero ella no se recuperaba. Mi padre gastó todo el capital de su negocio para pagar las cuentas del hospital. Después, las piernas de mi madre se paralizaron y no pudo caminar más. Mi padre la llevó a un mejor hospital en la ciudad, donde fue tratada, se recuperó y empezó a caminar como antes. El precio del hospital era muy alto. Mi padre tuvo que vender nuestra casa para pagarlo. Debido a las circunstancias de la vida, mis padres se mudaron de Bukavu a una villa llamada Nyangezi.

Crecí en Nyangezi hasta terminar mi educación secundaria. Entonces, dejé a mis padres y me mudé de vuelta a la ciudad para seguir con mis estudios universitarios. Quería ser experticia en informática, pero no pude entrar a una universidad con un departamento de ingeniería en software. Entonces, decidí buscar en otras partes y fui a una universidad en Kigali, la capital de Rwanda, nuestro país vecino. Crucé la frontera y entré a la universidad. Estaba tan feliz de experimentar un nuevo país, nueva comida, una nueva atmósfera, nueva cultura y nuevos amigos. 

Estaba tan feliz de experimentar un país nuevo

Después de un año y medio, mi hermano, quien estaba pagando mi matrícula, mi renta, y otros gastos, perdió su trabajo cuando su tienda de muebles se quemó en un incendio eléctrico. Debido a esa inesperada situación, nuestras vidas se amargaron. Yo dependía de mi hermano para todo. No tenía familia ni amigos en Kigali que pudieran ayudarme, y nadie más en mi familia podía “auspiciarme” porque vengo de una familia de bajos recursos. Por la ansiedad, perdí cuatro kilos en una semana. Debido a mi situación financiera, tenía que volver a casa. Planeé irme en dos semanas porque solo podía pagar 10 días más de renta y suficiente comida para unos quince días.

Tenía que Volver a casa. Planeé irme en dos semanas

Cuatro días antes de mi fecha de regreso a casa, fui a la biblioteca. Ahí, conocí a un nuevo amigo, otro inmigrante que se presentó al escucharme hablar en suajili. Cambió mi vida cuando me dijo que había puestos disponibles para francés en las escuelas primarias locales.

Apliqué y le recé al Dios todopoderoso. Está más allá de todos y todo, él es quien da y quien toma. Después de cinco días, una escuela me llamó para hacer una entrevista. Tres días más tarde, el director me llamó para decirme que había obtenido el trabajo. ¡Era un milagro para mí! Cancelé todos mis planes de volver a casa.

Cuando conseguí el trabajo, dejé de estudiar por un semestre para ahorrar. Después de cinco meses, volví a la universidad para continuar mis estudios, pero mi salario no alcanzaba para ingeniería en software. Entonces, me cambié al departamento de inglés, Lenguaje y Literatura. Ahora estoy en mi último año antes de graduarme y sigo enseñando francés.

Empecé a creer que en la vida todo es posible

Desde el momento en que conseguí trabajo, empecé a creer que todo es posible en la vida. Cuando empieza un año nuevo, con 365 días por delante, veo 365 oportunidades en mis manos. Creo que debo tener más creatividad, coraje, y la capacidad de tener buenas relaciones con las personas que me rodean. Digo: incluso si intentas y fallas, no te decepciones. Siempre ten una actitud optimista porque todas las situaciones en la vida son temporales. La vida: se trata sólo del tiempo.


Clickea aquí para aprender cómo el francés cambió la vida de Salum


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Salum Ndezi

Salum Ndezi

I’m Salumu, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is the second widest country of Africa with more than four hundred tribes and more than four hundred fifty dialects. Kiswahili, Lingala, Tshiluba and Kikongo are the four national languages and French is an official one. It is a very rich country with its natural resources. But the biggest problems are the political instability, insecurity, war most in the eastern part of the country, and tribalism. And these bring us other big problems of poverty and hunger. Citizens cannot benefit from the resources of their own country. I observed and found out that people’s mentality must be changed, from all classes of people. And my only way to contribute to changing people’s mentality is through writing and sharing my ideas with everyone. Together we can make Congo, Africa and the whole world a better place.

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