July 23, 2003

Dear Friends,

In the past week I have witnessed some profoundly disturbing and moving moments. A group of chokora -- street boys -- started dropping by the Good Samaritan Home in search of food. Already strapped for resources, the Home opened their arms to these 8 boys, several of whom ran away from Good Samaritan 5 years ago.

The boys would arrive high on glue and drunk on chang'aa, the illicit local drink that blinds and kills many each year. They would attempt to keep their bottles of glue hidden while taking their food, but often the boys could not resist the temptation.

Amos, whose face was drawn so tight as to resemble the figure in Munch's 'The Scream,' took several deep breaths of the glue, started slobbering his corn and green beans all over himself, and eventually began weeping uncontrolably "I have no mother. I have no mother."

After several of such visits, the boys deciced to show us their "base," where they sleep. It was little more than a patch of dirt with a pile of filthy clothes and blankets, a few empty liquor bottles, and 2 empty paint cans used as stoves.

The Home had been inviting the boys to move off the street, and on Sunday evening several of the boys stopped by to inform us that this was their last evening on glue and that they were going to move in and get clean.

On Monday morning, 7 of the 8 boys showed up, took showers, got new clothes, ate, and slept. 6 of the boys made it through the day and spent the night at Good Samaritan. They are going to try to convine their two friends to move into the Home as well. I hope they are able to.

In other news, the Home will soon open a vocational school where they will teach carpentry and tailoring to those children who cannot go to secondary school (either because of lack of funds or because they did not pass the primary school exam.) This will give children like Boss, and the new boys, something to do during the day, and the possibility of a future outside the Home.

best,
Randy