Not Just Another Number 58

Last week Monday I accompanied Jessica and Elijah on a child visit of a six-year-old orphaned boy. I shared with you about our last child analysis far in the mountains; however this visit was almost too much for my heart to handle. I’ll try to describe the situation to the best of my ability.

This child also lives in a beautiful rural area about an hour from Machakos. We arrived at his home, where he stays alone with his grandmother. We came to find out that this boy’s grandmother gave birth to seven children out of wedlock, something very counterculture. All of her children died (likely from AIDS), except one who is alive with a couple kids. The last one to die was this boy’s mother. She had three children, two of who survived her. After the mother’s death, this boy’s older (and only) sister, who was just starting high school, began to spend nights with different men, which resulted in pregnancy. The girl abused the grandmother and even sold her only cow before abandoning her brother and moving to Nairobi.

Arriving at their brick home, the first thing I noticed was the smell of animals: dogs and chickens. The home had a lot of maize stored inside all. The grandmother, looking quite fragile and old, was seated on a sack of maize eating chapati and drinking chai. She had few teeth, no use of her fingers and could barely talk. She said that she was born normal, but suffered from severe malaria, which would cause her to frequently die for a day and then come back to life. I myself could barely understand what she meant, but apparently this sickness caused the disabling of her fingers and tongue. She can barely communicate verbally. She is unable to do almost anything, including cooking. Thankfully, a neighbor (I believe she is actually her only granddaughter from her one living child) who is in high school comes everyday to bring them food. She is the only person providing for this boy and his grandmother, meaning they are completely dependent on her for survival.

To make matters worse, we asked the boy what he owned and about school. He had two usable notebooks for school and a ripped sweater, which is one part of the required uniform. When Jessica asked if he had a pencil, he said yes and returned with a pencil smaller than my pinkie finger. He didn’t have shoes. What made this boy’s vulnerability so real to me was that he is ranked number 58 out of 65 students in his first grade class. In the six tested subject areas, he achieved between 10 and 32 percent in each. This was no surprise considering his conditions. Who is there to help him with school work?

Jessica and Elijah asked that he be tested for HIV/AIDS, a request, which made the grandmother uncomfortable. This boy is very needy and I hope that we can support him from his home for a while and then take him into the Center. However, I don’t know what will happen with him. We have to go back for another assessment after some time. He has the right to an environment that is not only livable, but also healthy. I can’t describe the sick feeling I had inside of me after leaving this child visit. I can’t allow myself to forget that he is still there as I write this, just like millions of other orphans.