We can not help all of them, we can not even help most of them, but we can help a few. We know that God brings certain people along our path and it is those that we then have a choice to help or not.
Saturday a little boy Chanda 11 yrs. old knocked at our gate begging for food. We gathered some things and Ian handed it to him. Ian told me he had a huge smile when he saw the eggs.
Suunday we drove home from church and the little boy was sitting at the gate. Filthy in rags with no shoes. We let him come in to the yard and play football for a bit with the kids. I talked to him a little and found out he had not had breakfast so I gave him something to eat and a glass of milk. We gathered eggplants from the garden and then I sent him home with that and some rice. I told him to come back on Thursday to play if he wanted.
Today he came with his brother/cousin Immanuel who is 13 yrs. old and looks about 8 yrs.
Here is their story. It has become a familiar one.
The 2 boys stay with their grandmother. Their mothers live in Kapiri and works on a farm. The grandmother owns her own 2 room place and has no income. She was bitten by a snake and now has to walk with crutches and has been immobilized in some form due to the snake bite. The 2 boys go around during the days begging for food and piece work.
Chanda's mother left one day when he was out playing and took his sister ( now 6 yrs.) along with her to go work on a farm in Kapiri. She has never come back.
Chanda has Never been to school.
Immanuel has been to school but stopped at grade 5. They have an uncle that lives in the same area that brings some food over when he is able.
I had Enock translate for me today and was able to find out all these things.
They had not eaten at all today either ( by 3:00) so I made tham a Peanut Butter sandwich gave them a banana and milk and a cookie. They played awhile with the boys outside while I looked for some clothes to give them.
I found 2 pairs of Ian's sandals that he had outgrown, and was able to get a clean pair of clothes with underwear for each of them. Then I took them to the shower room outside and explained about using the shampoo for the hair and opened a new bar of soap and gave them a washcloth and said wash really good.
I can only imagine how good that must feel when you are so very dirty.
They took a really long time in the shower! They were in there laughing and I just heard the water going and going. Ian knocked on the door a few times to ask if they were done.
Finally after quite a long time the boy stuck his head out the window and yelled DONE!
So I said ok, now dry off and made the motions of patting my arms with a towel and then pretended to put on trousers. They got the idea.
They put their clothes on and came out and I helped them adjust the waist band so it fit better.
Then I gave them each a tooth brush and little tube of toothpaste and brought them to the sink and explained about brushing. They brushed and brushed. Then I said spit. They didn't understand so then I made the noise, ( oh so ladylike! ha) and then they spit. Immanuel had been holding it all in for quite awhile.
Then Chanda rinsed his off and put toothpaste on again and started again. I laughed and explained that you only need to do it once. Then we put their toothbrushes in a bag and their dirty clothes and extra pair of underpants.
I remembered how everyone uses a lot of lotion here so gave them some lotion and they lathered that all over them even their heads.
When they finished I took them to the mirror and showed them how handsome they looked!
They looked like different kids.
They left with a bag of tomatoes and bread and I told them to come back on Wednesday and maybe we could have some piece work for them to do.
I would love to be able to get both of these boys into school. They live nearby and I will be praying about how to help these kids. Enock made the comment to me that this is where the street kids come from.
These very boys just like many of "our boys" in Kabanana, are prime "candidates" for boys that end up on the street. Stealing, doing drugs, just trying to survive.
What if we could intercept that. Not for all of them, not even for many of them. But just for a few. We could be the ones that stand in between them and the streets.
(Chanda age 11, Immanuel age 13)
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