A change in story of Thanks
But as I walked to the bus stand today I felt I should change the story for which I am giving thanks. Those who know me well, know I like a good place to live and running water but I am comfortable living on the ground in a tent somewhere. So giving thanks for the creature comforts is great it just is not me so to speak. Like I said I am thankful for them, but there are things I find more important in this life.
When I used to walk at my other site, I had locations where kids would run out to greet me and ask I take their picture so they could see themselves on the view screen (they were not big on getting their picture taken before digital cameras).
As I walked from my site to the road I was greeted by the teachers and students at our school. Each trying their English, excited when I tried my Kiswahili. I have really enjoyed that part of my walking here. More people want to go through the exchanges in English and Kiswahili and are very forgiving when I mess up which was not the case before.
As I get to the road which is about 1 mile from our site I came across the young boy in the picture above. This is not my first time to meet him. On Monday as I walked near lunchtime I had a pack of kids all trying to hold my hand as we walked and he was sitting at one of the concrete drain pipes that cross the road. He joined the group and we all walked. Eventually, all but two kids split off to go to their homes. I actually started to get worried he was following me and his parents were going to start looking for him after a while. But the young lady still walking with us reassured me when I asked that his home was still ahead.
It turned out his home was still ahead. Because of all the kids holding my hands I was not positive my fitness watch had measured out my distance correctly but it was pretty far from the church where he was sitting today. Side Note: I finally bought something expensive that I wear. A fitness watch though I got it from Groupon for just $30. It has been wonderful in tracking my walks and marking distance to different things.
Back to my original story, sorry. This young boy was sitting around the church where they hold some type of activities for young children that appears to be like a preschool. They have a lot of them when they do it. I would say around 80 are there. It is not an everyday thing but when they do it, there is a group of women who cook a meal for all the kids. Here he was with his cup in hand hoping today was the day. He brought the cup with him from home so he could get the porridge they serve. My guess is he is about 4 or 5 years old. I say I guess because most of the words he tries to say are hard to understand. Such as his name, which kept sounding like bado which is similar to the word bad. I kept getting that picture in my head of the story when a child is asked what name his mother calls him by and he responds with various forms of expletives. I am pretty sure that is not his name or what his mom calls him just the best I could make out. We will call him Billy instead.
One thing you may want to know for this story is that I came across Billy at 7:30 in the morning. Unfortunately, it was not the day the church was doing activities for the kids and no meals were planned. So Billy decided to walk with me back to his house.
Most of the way he wrapped his hand around two of my fingers and did well to keep up though I did go a bit slower to help him out. Along the way, he did not talk much. At times he run to investigate something that caught his attention but never stopping for any length of time before he was back by my side. I gave up trying to draw out some conversation from him and instead we simply communicated through the smiles we shared with each other when I would check to make sure he was not falling off the pace or I would check to see where he was along the way when the big trucks passed by.
At times we were joined by other children moving from one location to another. He would always make sure he had a hold on at least one of my fingers when they came up to grab my hands or get a hold on my arm. Kids here are fascinated by arm hair.
This is the trip Billy takes by himself to and from the church. Other kids along the way seem to know him and help him. When he trips they all wait for him to get up and going again.
It was really a great trip and made my journey much more pleasant. How long was the walk Billy was making by himself? 2.7 miles one way. Remember he was waiting at the church at 7:30 am. He must have left home around 6 because going slowly enough to keep his pace we were about 1 1/2 hours to his house.
He smiled said goodbye in Kiswahili and waved. I don't know how far off the road his house was but he seemed confident and I let him go. This is what they do here.
I kept walking to the bus stand for the ride to Moshi. I had 2.3 more miles to go. It was not as fun without him.
Some of the other kids want to get pictures taken but most just want to walk with me.
So I changed what I am thankful for today. Billy can walk with me any day.
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