May 28, 2011

Last Monday I decided to walk into town from school instead of taking a taxi. I will do this from time to time to just pray, think and interact with the people that are always walking along the streets. I was on the phone with my mom when a taxi driver stopped and asked if I needed a ride, I said how much to Kansenshi (the area I live) He was trying to charge me 30% more than what it should cost, so of course I refused and continued walking, even after he said, “ok, madam, lets go” As I turned the corner, I saw one of the street boys I have seen time and time again wandering the streets of town. This is the 1^st time we interacted and as I was talking to my mom our eyes locked and he just put his hand on his stomach. I of course knew what that meant and motioned him to follow me. I told my mom briefly about him and told her I needed to get off the phone so I could get him some food. He walked with me, well a few steps behind me as we approached a small take away restaurant. I went in to get a menu and when I turned around to ask him what he wanted realized that he didn’t enter. I went back outside and found him standing in the little alleyway next to the restaurant. I motioned him to come and pointed to chicken and chips and asked if he wanted that. He shook his head yes. I told him to follow me and we got a table and I placed the order. I soon found out that he spoke almost no English. He knows how to answer when I asked his name and age..that is it. I found out his name was Joseph and he is 11 years old. When the waitress came I asked her to interpret for me. I asked him where he stays, who he lives with etc. I found out that he lives with his grandmother in one of the compounds, Cenia, which is close to the school I teach at. I found out that both his parents have died and that he use to be sponsored but the people who use to sponsor him stopped. I asked if he wanted to go to school and he said he really did. I told him that I would like to pay for him to go back to school and to meet me in the morning so I could take him. He was very happy. At this point, it was already dark out so I called a taxi, I had the taxi driver take us to one of the entrances to the compound so that Joseph would not have to walk so far. The next morning I took a friend with me to translate and waited at the bus stop for over an hour, he never showed up... so I sent her home. I was discouraged and decided to walk to school to pray and with the hope of seeing him as I walked even though I knew it was not likely. I was praying and after about 5 minutes just started praying in the Spirit. I stopped momentarily and just closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes and looked ahead, I did a double take, it was Joseph; he was in the middle of the road, crossing the street to meet me. I was in shock, disbelief and excited all at the same time. I immediately called my friend and she arrived about 15 minutes later to translate. We escorted Joseph to the school and went to the office to meet with the school director and caseworker. They knew him and come to find out they have been trying to get him to come in for over 2 years. The case worker went to meet with the grandmother later in the day, after he finished some other work and spent time verifying the facts and getting the full story.

Wednesday was a public holiday and our church was hosting a cookout with all traditional African foods..including caterpillars and African game meat. And yes I ate it all and have the picture to prove it. Well I had invited Joseph to come and told him to meet me at the bus stop at 10am. I took my housemate with me and we waited at the bus stop for over 2 hours. Again my heart was discouraged but I just gave it to the Lord..not knowing why he didn’t show was the hardest part. Was he sick, (he had complained of a headache the day before), was he on the streets again, was is grandmother ill, did he over sleep, was he afraid, had he lied about wanting to go to school? I decided to go visit the compound with my friend, we walked around for a little over an hour looking for him and asking if anyone knew him. We never did find him but I had a great time wandering the unnamed dirt roads between the homes made from the same dirt. The amount of children I saw was amazing, they followed us and were so eager to come up and greet us and follow us around. As we were leaving I saw a group of boys, about 6 or 7 of them making mud bricks. They were only about 8 or 9 years old but were working so hard. I decided to go up and tell them what a great job they were doing. As I entered the plot they were so excited to show me and tell me all about what they were doing. I kiddingly said, “are you going to build me a house here?” They just laughed and said, “yes we will!!” Then I asked for the shovel and said I want to make some bricks. They had a mold for forming the bricks to my rights and a pile of mud in front of me. I started lifting the mud and filling the mold, packing it in carefully..I had no idea if I was doing it right or not..ha. When I finished I went to hand the shovel back to one of the boys and he said no, there is another mold there and pointed and said I should do another…ha ha. I gladly continued…and I didn’t realize till I was finished but a small crowd had gathered to watch the crazy white lady make mud bricks. Once I handed the shovel back to the boys, one of them asked for the equivalent of 20 cents. I gave each of the boys a little money and as I did this one of the ladies from the crowd said,, “what craziness is this? She is paying you and she is the one making the bricks? “ We all just laughed. I would have spent the whole day there if I didn’t have somewhere to go. I absolutely loved it. One of these days I will spend a day making bricks with them and will remember to bring my camera.

The next ay I found out that late that night Charles, the caseworker had met up with Joseph. The grandmother wants to meet me and talk with me. Friday after work we went to the house but no one was home. It was deep in the compound and took a long time to get there, we got lost a time or two but eventually found it. I even ran into some of my pupils and some of the other kids from the school. They were surprised to see me and very excited. When we got the Josephs house, it was heartbreaking to see the condition of the house. I can’t even adequately describe it in words. Well, no one was home and the neighbors said they went to town to beg. The grandmother is old and had a fall a while back so has problems with her legs and feet and has to use a cane to walk. We will attempt a visit after school on Monday; please pray we find them this time.

Something I am realizing as time goes on here is that God is giving me a strong burden and heart for street boys, I have a feeling my ministry here EVENTUALLY is going in that direction. Even before I met Joseph, I visited a place in the capital city, which has an outreach program to street boys. They offer shelter, food, counseling and just a safe place to be. A guy who use to be a street boy runs it. I was moved deep within as I interacted with these teen boys. I will be praying that God continues to direct my steps and give me wisdom in this matter and as I seek the counsel of those around me. For now, he is bringing street boys to the school. I think we have at least 5 now and I know the number will continue to grow. Keep this in your prayers!! God is at work!!