On Watching America: A Story from Chad (and Canada)
By george wesley dannells on Nov 17, 2008 in All categories
Among the 285 comments to the blog Campaign Trail Talk on America.Gov was this comment, found by eagle-eye Ilona who kindly passed on the word. -gw
After sitting up all night watching the results, I woke up my six-year old African daughter here in N’Djamena, Chad to listen to you make your wonderful acceptance speech. We told our daughter that she would one day tell her children about this occasion. She was more impressed by your daughters on stage with you. We were also amazed to hear already on the streets of N’Djamena, at that early hour, shouts of Obama, Obama. While you have many serious challenges ahead, be comforted in the knowledge that you have the best wishes and support of billions of other people of good will throughout the world who look to your Presidency to try to make a more just society, not only in the U.S., but throughout the world. Many are hoping that your suggestion of distribution of wealth may trickle down to their level and lift some from the hopelessness and misery in which they presently strive to feed and educate their children, and to instill hope in their lives. May God bless and support you in the days ahead. “As you have Faith, so shall your powers and blessings be. This is the balance…”
Nigel
6 November 2008
http://blogs.america.gov/campaign/2008/11/04/president-elect-barack-obama/
The commenter Nigel doesn’t identify himself as Baha’i, but the quote is from the Baha’i Writings. Wanting to know more about Nigel, I googled Nigel+Chad+Baha’is and came across the following story on Baha’i Index. -gw
http://www.bahaindex.com/en/news/1-general-news/2817-adopted-african-winds-his-way-to-cfl
“My parents moved to Chad with the Bahai Faith. (Both still live in Chad — father Nigel works in the American embassy while mother Lynn is the official Canadian counsel.)
“I´ve got cousins that are white, cousins that are black, cousins that are mixed. Like I said, a long story man.
“They adopted a whole bunch of African kids. There are 16, maybe 18, of us. There are a lot of us. I´m about the middle one. No. 8. The oldest is 38; the youngest is 12, says Dounia, 25.”
His brief football history requires some explanation as well. In 1997, when Whitehouse was 17, his parents sent him to Kelowna so he could graduate from a Canadian high school.
Playing football was the farthest thing from his mind. …
http://www.bahaindex.com/en/news/1-general-news/2817-adopted-african-winds-his-way-to-cfl
