After the Last Tear: Rising from the Ashes of a Broken Marriage By Cassila K

Chapter 33

The first time I met Joseph was in a camp in Goma.

At that time, the situation in eastern Congo (DRC) was chaotic.

Militants, driven by the scramble for mineral resources and ethnic conflicts, frequently attacked villages. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes, seeking refuge in larger cities.

When I arrived at the refugee camp, a few doctors were treating a little girl.

She had been injured in an explosion, with a small pebble embedded in her ear. She cried in pain and struggled violently, making the doctors hesitant to proceed.

Someone called out, "Joseph!"

A tall man responded and stepped forward.

He examined the situation and surprisingly pulled out a few playing cards from his white coat, performing a magic trick on the spot.

The little girl was quickly captivated and stopped struggling, giving the doctors an opportunity to act.

When the pebble finally fell into the tray with a "clang," the cards in Joseph's hand had disappeared, replaced by an African violet.

The little girl stared wide-eyed in amazement and tugged on his sleeve, trying to find the vanished cards, but to no avail.

She clapped her hands in delight, pulling at her parents' clothes as she squealed

with joy.

Joseph handed the flower to the girl and escorted her grateful parents out of the medical tent.

scene was so unique that I couldn't resist

clicking sound of the camera caught his attention. He turned around, slightly surprised, and asked in French, "New

"Country A," I replied.

lit up, and he switched to Chinese, introducing himself: "I'm Joseph, currently

I asked, "Where did

flowers were a rarity

proudly. "I grew it!

to his quarters, I discovered a small garden he had created using scavenged

African violet, agapanthus, tropical

grow these?" I

on the table, he answered confidently, "Because flowers make people

I was puzzled.

"You probably think food, clean water, and medicine

I nodded.

pushes people to forget beauty, but flowers help them remember they're alive, that there's still something worth looking forward

there's

his face, and

and passion were like a beam of light,

me.

found myself unable to look away from his lively, carefree

were from

my first impression, Joseph was

and patient treatments and even assisted me in completing my first-ever surgery-successfully delivering a baby for a

noticed an unusually high mortality rate among

antiretroviral drugs, but they're still dying in droves..." "That doesn't make sense unless

volunteered, "Let