An Update on Teo

Hopefully by now you've read "Karuna," the story of Teo, a Nigerian man who spent 18 years in prison in Nepal. I received a lot of amazing feedback about this post, and more importantly, compassion (karuna) for him and what he went through. I hope that Teo and Proscovia`s stories have provided some insight into the realities of being a prisoner abroad, the injustice going on in other parts of the world, and how lucky those of us from developed countries are with our rights and privileges.

Writing about Teo brought back so many memories of our time together, especially being back in Nepal at the same time. One of the checkpoints at the prison is only steps away from where I used to visit Teo so it has been very strange not to head over there as I had so many times before. I`ve so wanted to just pop over to see if I could spot Surendra, my Nepali gangster buddy, and to bask in the nostalgia of the past. But I wouldn't want to do anything to mess up my visiting privileges.

So after days of thinking about Teo I called him after many many months of no contact. After many tries, a man finally answered the phone, all the way over in Nigeria, and sure enough it was Teo! It was so good to hear his voice and he was surprised and happy to hear from me after so long as well.

I told him with pleasure that I was in Nepal, more to bug him, as not surprisingly he doesn't have much use for the country and can't understand why someone would want to come by choice :)

I also updated him about Proscovia and sensed the same Big Brother/Head of the African group vibe from him that I used to. It didn't sound like he had much contact with anyone in Nepal anymore and summed it up by saying "I just want to forget." I can't blame him for that as I'd want to forget that nightmare as well.

On his end, he still hasn't been able to find a job, is very bored and spends most of his time involved in church programs. His family continues to support him financially. I've heard from a Nigerian friend how tough it is to find work where he lives, and according to Proscovia the situation isn't any better in Uganda. Unemployment and no security net like we have in the West are a dangerous combination and which of course contribute to the drug trafficking issue in Africa. After meeting Teo and Proscovia I always thought that it would be a great idea to start a NGO which would travel to trafficking hotspots in Africa educating people about the consequences of trafficking. And I thought that Teo and Proscovia would be the perfect people to tell their stories in hopes of preventing others from falling into the same trap. There are NGOs in India that do similar work in regards to human trafficking. It may not change things for those that take the risk because they are truly financially desperate, but I'm sure there are scores of others that are uneducated, naive, lied to, set up and so on. This kind of initiative could make the difference.with this group. I believe a NGO will be apart of my future, but whether this cause will be the one I'm not sure. As they say, time will tell...

Back to Teo...it was clear from his voice that this is quite a frustrating time for him. We certainly had some laughs, like when I did the impressions of him like I used to. But he just wasn't himself. He hasn't found a wife yet either which I jokingly stressed the need for. But joking aside I truly hope that he meets someone as he's still young and I know from past conversations that he would like a family. Explaining his 18 years in a Nepali jail probably isn't something that would go over too well on a first date though (well, maybe only with me, haha)!

I can only imagine what it is like for him being back in Nigeria after nearly two decades. The shock and adjustment to all of the changes that occurred while he was in prison (between 1992 and 2010) may have eased off by now. But finding his place as a productive member of society has proven to be a great challenge for him. How he will fair after spending most of his life in prison in a far away land remains to be seen.

The connection got bad and the conversation ended without the niceties that I would have liked. But I was happy to have had a chance to connect with him anyway. I'll keep you posted on Teo as there's no way I'll forget him in my lifetime. Let's hope for the best..I certainly feel he deserves it.