Funcia (l) with his brother Khalifa Donzo

”…when bad luck follow you, even rotten banana can break your teeth…” a popular Liberian parlance being told for decades

 

As humans, it is in our nature to be good to one another. When we see someone in distress, our natural inclination is to help that person. But sometime trying to help some people can have unintended consequences.

No one knows this better than our friend and brother, Funcia Donzo of Woodbridge, Virginia, who tried to be a Good Samaritan to a neighbor, but his quest to help someone in need has landed him in "big trouble." He has been behind bars for a while, costing his family some good fortune to fight his case in a Virginia court. His trial for “attempted kidnapping” allegation has been set for June 16, 2008.

Meanwhile, relatives and friends of Funcia from New York, new Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and other places are planning to show up in court to give strong moral support to this respectable community member and family man in this most difficult period of his life.

The relatives and friends also want to show their supports to show the judge that indeed Funcia Donzo is a member of a strong community of people that care and that he is innocent of the charges levied against him. They believe they are defending a hard working family man who is been wrongly accused and imprisoned.

What happened?

Since immigrating to the U.S. five years ago with his family on diversity (DV) lottery visa, Funcia Donzo has lived in Woodbridge, Virginia. First he lived with his younger brother Kalifala Donzo, who sponsored his DV program. After a year, Funcia decided to take his own apartment. He shared this apartment with another brother of his, Ayouba. 

Funcia, who is the nephew of Liberia's Public Work Minister, Lusene Donzo, comes from a very large family with many siblings. Prior to winning the DV lottery and coming to America, Funcia managed his father’s business in Liberia. He earned the respect and admiration of many youths when he formed the neighborhood soccer team. For many of them, he was popularly known as "the Chief."

Recently, some tenants moved into an apartment opposite his in Virginia. Being a gentleman who is always trying to help someone in need, he decided to help the African-American family that moved close to his apartment. He spent good numbers of hours helping them move their things in their new apartment.

Funcia thought he was fulfilling his religious and moral obligation. After rendering help to the family, one month later, he was driving to his brother’s house in Woodbridge when he saw the young daughter of the lady he helped in the apartment opposite his. She was walking down the street not too far from the apartment complex. He slowed down and asked the girl if she needed a ride. She ignored him and continued walking.

Funcia went his way on to his brother’s place. When he returned to his apartment later that day, to his surprise, there were police officers from the Prince William County Police Department, who questioned him and arrested him for attempted kidnapping. The young girl’s mother called the police based on what her daughter reportedly explained to her.  

Nvasekie reminisces similar incident in VA          

Thinking about Funcia's plight reminds me of an incident in Newport News, Virginia when I was stationed on board the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. We lived in a housing complex that is predominantly African-American and Latino. My cousin who lived with her family in another apartment of the same complex had two young children. These children were always called names by African-American children. They would call them "African booty scratchers, African this, African that." The children often got into fights.

In order to avoid the fights with other children, my cousin kept her children indoor, and stopped them from playing outside. Her children felt like prisoners in their neighborhood. One day they decided to visit my apartment when the school bus dropped them off. While on their way to my apartment, they were attacked by the same children that had always picked on them. It led to a bigger commotion between my family and the African-American family. My wife called the police. An African American police officer showed up. He came into our apartment and started lecturing us about our oneness as Africans; how the slavery separated us but "we are one family and we must treat each other like that."

After calming us down, he left without giving the same counseling to the other belligerent party. But that didn't mean much to us because he talked to us like family. He even gave us his business card to call him any time if we needed any help.

Two weeks later, I came from work, dressed in my military uniform. Guess who I saw? It was same police officer. This time he was not the same family man that talked to us two weeks earlier. This time he had a menacing look. He had arrested another cousin of mine who had come to visit us from Richmond, Virginia. His crime was he tried to separate the children from fighting. He had just left my apartment to accompany my female cousin’s children to their mother's apartment. The children's mother had asked him to walk her children home so as to avoid them fighting with other kids.

While he was escorting the kids, the same African-American children came out and started fighting with them. My cousin who was escorting them intervened by trying to break up the fight. The African-American children called their parents and their parents called the police. Interestingly indeed, it was the same officer that showed up. This time, he did not come to pacify the parties, this time, he was on another mission: revenge.

He handcuffed my cousin who tried to stop the kids from hurting each other. When I inquired what the reason my cousin was handcuffed, and that why couldn't we talk like we did two weeks earlier, he shouted, "Back off or else…" My cousin was whisked into the police car and taken to jail that evening. We drove behind them to where he was taken, but were told to come back the next morning to post his bond. That morning, he was set free pending court trial. He was charged with aggravated assault against a minor, a charge that could have put him in prison for years.

Facing this charge and knowing fully well that he was innocent we decided to hire a lawyer. We told the lawyer exactly what happened. The case was won in his favor and the charge of "aggravated assault against minor" was dismissed. My cousin could have ended up in jail for moths or years just like Funcia has been for the past five months.

What they both have in common is that they are Liberians and they tried to do good that ended up costing them one way or the other. For my cousin in Richmond, his case did not go as far as Funcia's. They would not even entertain the idea of Funcia coming home pending the court case. Now his trial is set for June 16, 2008.

For more information on the support group for Funcia Donzo, please call 571 237 9159, 347 742 3493, or 484 461 8532.