Two big men kept following, whistling and calling out to them in Swahili, “shorty… hey shorty… come here shorty…” Frida and her younger sister Dola, had been out shopping, followed by an ice-cream stop in the heat of Dar es salaam. November through February are the hottest months of the year in Tanzania. Along the coast and especially in ‘Dar’, as the bustling city is affectionately known, temperatures go into the high 30’s in centigrade.
The Pereira family lived on Mkwepu Street, above ‘Mermaid’s Fish & Chips’, a well-known eatery in the city. As the sisters approached the restaurant, the teasing got louder and Frida turned around, went straight for the two men, caught one by the shirt and started punching him in the chest. She was seven months pregnant. While everyone was in shock at the scene, a good friend, Sujjad happened to be driving by at the right moment and place. He stopped his car on the street, rushed out and intervened before things got out of hand. He had the two men apologize and escorted the ladies to the house, before returning to his car and continuing on his errands.
A few hours later, Frida went into labor. Her water broke that evening and was taken to Hindu Mandal Hospital where she gave birth to a baby boy at 12:20am. At seven months and barely 2kgs, he was not a looker from the start. He was so tiny, his mother was afraid to hold him. She was only 21 years of age. Vivian, the father of 24 years, was his main handler during the early days. It was Vivian’s good friend Sujjad, who’d saved the day earlier.
After work, he’d come to pick Frida from her parent’s house and drive to his parents’ house in Kijitonyama, a suburb far out of town. They lived with his parents and siblings. On that day he would drive her to the hospital instead. Together, Vivian & Frida Shallom brought their only child into the world on November 5th, 1974. Despite his premature birth and delicate condition, he was not put under any machinery, nor kept beyond the standard 48 hours.
And so, in Dar es salaam, The Haven of Peace, Ryan Eric Shallom was born and so my safari began…