Well, I am so elated to say that two of the streetboys are now at Umuryango Boys' Home! It has been an incredible experience to be part of. In the morning Theresa, Jean Paul, Jean Pierre, and I went to breakfast at a restaurant. Jean Pierre was home from secondary school because he had to get some more money. So, to celebrate his being home we took him out for breakfast. When we were eating, we saw Olivier sitting outside. Theresa and I asked Jean Paul if we could bring him home and he said "yes." So, we invited Olivier in and ordered him some food and we chatted with him. Jean Paul asked him questions about his life before he came to the streets and about life on the streets. Through the years of bringing in streetboys, Jean Paul has learned to make sure each boy would fit in well at the home. There are twenty other boys at the home and the last thing we want to do is disturb the family environment that has been built there. Olivier is a very bright twelve year-old boy who is very well-behaved and obedient. He would fit in very well at Umuryango, so we invited him to live there. I will never forget his smile; it went from ear to ear.
As we were finishing up eating we saw Emmanuel, another boy we have gotten to know. We invited him in to eat as well. Jean Paul asked him the same sort of questions, and he also seemed like an ideal resident for the family. So, we invited him too, and he was very happy as well. Emmanuel is a bit younger in age, 8. After breakfast we said goodbye to Jean Pierre. Having him at breakfast was very interesting, as he had once been in the shoes of Olivier and Emmanuel as a streetboy. To contrast that life with his life now - a secondary school student with good grades. He has also been appointed the chief of his dormitory by the officials at the school, which means he is like a Resident Director to 115 boys. We are very proud of Jean Pierre for coming such a long and difficult way.
Jean Paul took Olivier and Emmanuel to Umuryango while Theresa and I shopped at the market for new clothes and shoes. Unfortunately Theresa was not feeling well, so I went out alone to the Boys' Home to meet the new boys in their new family. And they fit right in. It didn't take long for them to play well with the boys. Some of their old friends from the streets of Gitarama are there - Siliac, Jackson, and Lamazani. And soon we hope to bring in some of their other friends from the streets.
It's days like today that I am so thankful to be doing what I am doing; to be part of taking boys from the streets, boys who worry about how they are going to eat and where they are going to sleep, boys who have been given a rotten lot in life, boys who have so much potential in them that it is bursting from their veins. I am so thankful for the sponsors of the boys at Umuryango for providing the means to continue to bring more and more boys in.
As we were finishing up eating we saw Emmanuel, another boy we have gotten to know. We invited him in to eat as well. Jean Paul asked him the same sort of questions, and he also seemed like an ideal resident for the family. So, we invited him too, and he was very happy as well. Emmanuel is a bit younger in age, 8. After breakfast we said goodbye to Jean Pierre. Having him at breakfast was very interesting, as he had once been in the shoes of Olivier and Emmanuel as a streetboy. To contrast that life with his life now - a secondary school student with good grades. He has also been appointed the chief of his dormitory by the officials at the school, which means he is like a Resident Director to 115 boys. We are very proud of Jean Pierre for coming such a long and difficult way.
Jean Paul took Olivier and Emmanuel to Umuryango while Theresa and I shopped at the market for new clothes and shoes. Unfortunately Theresa was not feeling well, so I went out alone to the Boys' Home to meet the new boys in their new family. And they fit right in. It didn't take long for them to play well with the boys. Some of their old friends from the streets of Gitarama are there - Siliac, Jackson, and Lamazani. And soon we hope to bring in some of their other friends from the streets.
It's days like today that I am so thankful to be doing what I am doing; to be part of taking boys from the streets, boys who worry about how they are going to eat and where they are going to sleep, boys who have been given a rotten lot in life, boys who have so much potential in them that it is bursting from their veins. I am so thankful for the sponsors of the boys at Umuryango for providing the means to continue to bring more and more boys in.
1 comment:
Yes, and I look so forward to being a sponsor, too, soon. :)
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