I was working as a cleaner in an office. The pay was nothing to live on for a month, and it didn’t come on time. Sometimes they could pay you a month or two later but still expected you to show up every day to clean the office. It was a hustle, but it was better than nothing. I would go to the office to clean and then go to my computer studies lesson afterwards.

God mysteriously sent someone special into my life some years ago. Here is the thing. I was actually able to complete secondary school because someone was sponsoring me. I only knew the person by name, never seen him, never spoke to him. But I have always been meaning to thank him, so the very day a profile bearing the same name as my sponsor came up, I drafted and sent a long message thanking him for helping me out. Only that I got the wrong person. But he has ties with my alma mater, so he asked that we keep in touch. I’ll call him Daniel.

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Daniel started supporting me with small things here and there. Sometimes data, sometimes supper. We were on a video call one day when he saw the condition of the house I was living in with my niece, so he rented a new apartment for me. One with electricity. He sent me the deposit and the first month’s rent. A week after we moved into the new house, he set up a small grocery shop for me. That honestly changed my life.

I would go to the cleaning job in the morning, attend my computer classes in the afternoon, then open the grocery shop in the evening. It worked. I was able to pay my own rent because I could finally afford it. I could afford proper meals regularly, and my niece could go to school with lunch money. My niece started getting her innocence glow back, and I was no longer getting desperately anxious. Before Daniel came into our lives, we used to go to bed famished.

He did all this without demanding anything in return. Not once. Sometimes he would ask me for a photo. “Send me a picture of you guys to prove that you are really happy.” And I will, showing my 32 teeth gladly. Have I mentioned that he also helped me get my high school certificates, which had been stuck at school because of unpaid balances? I had no idea when I would have been able to clear those balances myself.

I got into college on a sponsorship from a politician who was vying for a seat. He made promises and then put a brake on it in the middle of the school year. It was at that point that I actually got angry at my mom for forcing me to go. She knew we really didn’t have the funds for it.

Yes, it was almost four years since I completed school, but I didn’t mind. I already had something going for me. I had the grocery shop, my cleaning job, and my niece was with me. I didn’t really want to leave. But Daniel encouraged me to go. He promised that he was going to cater for my rent and food. Then it turned out that the scholarship was not even real, and up to now, I still have a lot of school balances. I tried getting student loans, but a year in and nothing has still happened.

But Daniel has kept to his part of the bargain. The rent is always paid. I have food on the table. It is always embarrassing to have to ask for the money, but what choice do I have? With his help, I have also started selling thrift clothes, but the business has been terrible. Sometimes I can go a whole week without selling, so it isn’t really profitable enough. Still, he has been there. He has been consistent, and again, he has never asked me for anything in return.

Earlier this year, Daniel travelled down here for vacation. He said he had been meaning to come here for a period of time. He wasn’t coming to see me specifically, but I went to see him while he was here. I won’t lie, I went there already feeling like I owed him something. In my mind, I felt like after everything he had done for me, I had to give him something in return.

But he didn’t ask for anything. He didn’t touch me. He didn’t even make me feel like I owed him anything. He only told me that he was happy that I am happy. After a month of vacation, he went back home.

A few days ago, we were talking on the phone, and completely out of nowhere, he talked about getting me a laptop to help with my studies. And honestly, that’s when I started questioning everything.

I’m not necessarily doubting him. I’m doubting myself. Am I accepting too much? Am I becoming too dependent on this man? Am I failing to see something that is obvious to everyone else? Because, on the other hand, maybe he’s simply a good Samaritan who happened to come into my life at a time when I desperately needed help. I genuinely don’t know.

What I do know is that I don’t think I would have survived college without his help. Whatever little money I get, I always try to put it towards my school fees because he covers the other basics. He’s never asked me for sex. He’s never asked for nudes. He’s never demanded anything in return. Even when he came here, when I was already mentally prepared to give something back, he didn’t ask for anything.

Is There A Man Out There Who Doesn’t Cheat?

So I want people’s honest opinions. What do you think is happening here? Is this someone who genuinely wants to help me? Is there something I’m missing? Am I becoming too dependent on him, or am I just struggling to accept that sometimes someone can help you without expecting something in return?

I want to understand what I might not be seeing. Because from where I’m standing, I feel incredibly blessed to have met him.

— NINA
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