The day Patrick almost managed to get a man out of the dark room
Patrick is responsible for the Cape Verdean Beautiful People project, he is on the
island of Fogo, bringing joy to the people
This is the story of the day Patrick almost managed to get a man out of the dark room where he has lived for over 23 years
Posted by Cape Verdean Beautiful People...
Carlos locked himself in his room at the age of 15 and for over 23 years he has never set foot outside. It's been 23 years since his mother and family have seen his face. He lives in a dark, empty room and doesn't let anyone see his face. His mother feeds him by sliding food under the door for him to eat.
I spent over 3 hours alone with Carlos driving to him, meeting him in person, praying with him, and trying my best to convince him to come out of his room. After 2 hours of talking to him, his mother and I were able to convince him to leave. He got up, walked towards his door and was about to leave the room. He even instructed me to pull my car forward and prepare it for him to jump in. Our plan was, when he comes out of his dark room, walk straight to the car and then we would drive just the two of us to São Filipe and then take a fast ferry to brava in the morning. Everything was one step and his mom was so excited this is the closest anyone has ever come to getting him out of there. Just as he was about to open the door, the news got out to the people of the neighborhood and more than 30 people showed up at Carlos' house. Some of the people who showed up were saying negative comments like he's not going to show up, he got intimidated when he heard that and was put off to leave. He then ended up changing his mind because he mentioned that there were a lot of people out there and it made him feel uncomfortable. The mother and I both yelled at people and told them to leave but they didn't and more and more people came to the house to the point where it was beyond our control. There is still hope that Carlos told me to come back at night another day and he will come out of this dark place he is animating he is willing and able and ready