A Gentle Admonition: Safety & Security for Our Elderly Travelers 

This is for all my African, especially Salone brothers and sisters in the diaspora, who have unlettered, elderly parents that visit them by non-direct flights requiring connections at other ports.

Please, please, please do not put your elderly mother, father or other relation, who cannot read in any international language, unaccompanied on a flight that would require them to read and understand what is written on their boarding passes and other travel documents.

Yesterday, on my way back from tending to my stroke stricken mother in Sierra Leone,  I was standing in line to board my connecting flight in Casablanca, when came a beautiful Fulani mother from Guinea (I found out from her passport).

From where I was standing, I could see that the unfriendly airline attendant, at the front of the line, was telling the woman I refer to here as ‘Nehneh’ (mother in Fulani), that she was at the wrong gate; he was making hand gestures, shooing her away, pointing in another direction.

There was obviously a language barrier, but the attendant’s unfeeling attitude was the main problem.

Confused and lost, Nehneh started crying when the rude attendant asked her to step aside, as he called the next person in line.

Nehneh walked away sobbing and looking in the distance, which showed she had no idea where the unfriendly attendant wanted her to go. That was when the daughter instinct in me kicked in.

I imagined my mother wandering in a strange airport in a strange land  of unfriendly people, whose language she cannot understand, nor can they understand hers.

So, I left my place in line and followed Nenneh. I caught up with her, and with some of the very few words I could say in Fulani, I managed to ask her where she was going. She responded that she was going to ‘Boston.’

Even with the language barrier between us, Nehneh struck me as a smart, intelligent woman; as are most of our unlettered mothers.

I looked at her boarding pass and saw that she needed to be at Gate A9; we were at Gate A1.

I switched to Mandingo, which I speak better and know most Guineans, regardless of tribe,  may understand. I told Nehneh that I was going to help her, and not to cry or worry. I saw a faint smile and we continued walking toward the gate.

When we got to Gate A9, I saw a young American woman sitting in the waiting area. I ask where she was headed? I was happy to hear her say ‘Boston.’ I then asked her to please look out for my aunt who was on the same flight. She offered Nehneh a sit next to her.

I assured Nehneh that all was well with her now because she was at the right gate and the young woman would help, if she needed any further help. She smiled, and thanked me profusely.

That was all the help Nehneh needed, if only the attendant had cared enough to listen and take the extra step.

As I started my fast walk back to my A1 gate, which was already boarding, I noticed another elderly African woman in a wheelchair, near Gate A9. She was calling out to Nenneh. I figured they knew each other, which gave me more peace of mind that she was at the right place and in good company.

Photo credit: BirminghamAirport.Co.UK

Please my people, if you cannot find a trusted traveler to help your parents in transit, please ask the airline for special assistance or wheelchair service, it was free the last time I used it for my mother’s trips. 

Even if your elderly, unlettered parent is fit enough to run a marathon, please know that s/he needs the special needs service for safety and security during transit. Most airlines would offer special needs assistance when you ask, so please make use of such services.

Had Nenneh been offered wheelchair or special needs service, there would have been  somebody to make sure she got to the right gate, which would have saved her from all the anxiety and frustration she experienced at that strange airport, in a strange land of strange unfriendly people.