A week before my husband left Senegal I received a message from a dear friend inviting my group, Poetic Pilgrimage to perform in the US at the One Mic festival in Washington DC. It is during the same time that my husband would be in the US on tour with his group Native Sun and we would be performing on the same bill as Talib Kweli with a welcome address from Russell Simmons. I really didn’t believe it would happen and when I told my friend I was in Senegal he said it would be no problem for them to fly me into the US and fly me back to Senegal. It seemed like a door had been opened and the possibility of seeing my husband and my beloveds before my estimated return date to London seemed to be manifesting into a reality. The Kennedy Centre for Arts who invited us, make sure all their artists have US Work Visas and the process of applying for a Work Visa from the US Embassy is not straightforward as you can imagine and trying to get one here in Dakar was ten times more difficult. When I came to Dakar last week it was not only to renew my Senegalese Visa, but to apply for my US Visa. It was a long process, I swear. The form takes around 3 hours to fill in and when I eventually spoke to the US Embassy they told me they only see people twice a week and the only available appointment was on the day of my flight! We tried to bring it forward but it was impossible. The guys in the US said they could re-book my flight for Tuesday and I would have my appointment on Monday (yesterday) That’s when I decided to go home to Medina Baye for the weekend and pray hard, give lots away in charity and get my Shaykhs and all the illuminated souls there to pray for me as well all of you beautiful people around the world. When I arrived at the Embassy for my appointment yesterday the guy at arrivals said As Salaamu Alaikum Sukina I was confused and shocked, how did he know my name or my face! He reminded me that when I called to make my appointment we had spoken, he told me he was a manager of some spoken word artists in Dakar and had checked out my group and recognized me immediately! A good sign maybe. I went inside and the woman told me, that although I had paid $190 for the Visa I had to pay another $30 because Im a performer! That is 15,000 Senegalese Francs but I only had 12,000 on me. I was stuck and on the brink of tears. My friend had sent me some money in Western Union but there was no Western Union around. I went to speak to the same guy at reception about my situation and he said he would lend me the 3,000 - which is a big deal here in Senegal to give a complete stranger that amount of money. I paid and eventually saw a lady who was really nice and even knew of the Kennedy Arts Centre where Ill be performing InshaAllah. She said it usually takes 24 hours but they will try their best and that I should come back 2 hours later. Now where the US Embassy is located is in the posh part of town and I literally had no money left to get lunch and they had hold of my passport so I couldn’t even go to Western Union to get my money out. I decided to go to the ocean and talk to God and make Dhikr for lunch. And it was spectacularly beautiful the Atlantic Ocean is a strong forceful Ocean a real reflection of the Majesty of Allah, I stayed for a while and prayed my heart out. I made Salaat on the sand and went back to the Embassy and waited 3 hours reading Qasidat-ul Burdah (in English) saying HasbunAllahu wa Ni’mal Wakeel, Ya Latif and Salatul Fatih, right until closing time. I knew whatever she said I would end up crying my heart was feeling especially heavy. She called me over and said “I am sorry, we have done our best but the system has not processed your visa” I didn’t understand, my eyes filled with tears, I saw the look of sympathy in her eyes. She said your Visa application has been accepted but we don’t have enough time to process it. My flight was supposed to be in 7 hours time, there was nothing she could do and to top it off they hold onto your passport until the following day. I cried so much. So much. I then went to the toilet and cried some more, my eyes were red I felt helpless. Not only would I not be able to see my beloveds but I had no money or no way to get home. Once again I went back to the beach, it was late Asr the ocean was a lot gentler than before the setting sun made the water sparkle. I found my spot in the sand and cried some more.I accept my Lord’s Decree, I know all Power and Might is in His Hand but it hurt so bad. Through my tears I kept saying “I accept Ya Allah, I accept Ya Allah, Al Hamdullilah, Al Hamdullilah, From You we come and to You we will return, Al Hamdullilah” I felt heart broken, weary and defeated. I decided to get a cab and hoped someone would be at home to help me with the Taxi fare. I had an especially disagreeable and impatient driver who started shouting at me because ‘he’ took the wrong turn, with my pieces of French I shouted back and defended myself. Luckily one of the guys in the house was able to pay for me. I managed to get online and broke the news to everyone, they guys at the Kennedy Centre said since my Visa had been accepted they were happy to re-book my flight, again! For the following day, they said we have come this far and they would do anything to get me there, they are a serious bunch of lovely people. Within minutes they had a new flight booked for me. Subhan’Allah, God is Good! I was still worried, anything could happen and went to sleep early. All that crying made me exhausted. I woke this morning and called the lady at the Embassy, she remembered me straight away and said come to the Embassy, you’re Visa is ready! I jumped in a cab and flew down there. It felt like I was in a dream. I leave Dakar at 1am in the morning and arrive in Washington DC 6am tomorrow on the day of my show. And my husband and my beloveds Mohammed Yahya, Tanya Muneera Williams, Sarina Leah-Wildsuga will be waiting there for me. Insha’Allah. I‘ll still need your prayers to get me there, anything can happen between now and then. But this is the story so far. Al Hamdullilah, Al Hamdullilah, Al Hamdullilah
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 12:53:26 +0000
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