The information I've gathered on them so far is that they all live together in a one-room concrete home (literally called a "ghetto," wherein at least three other boys and zero parents live with them) next door to the Tuleeni orphanage and are prime candidates for falling between society's cracks. Honestly, these guys could succumb to drugs, crime, and/or "mere" malnutrition in a heartbeat... it's just to easy here.
I mean... sincerely? Half a dozen teenage boys shacking up together with no real responsibilities, authority figure, or resources doesn't exactly conjure up the vote of confidence or image of productive morality one hopes for a bunch of decent kids... nor does it seem a likely catalyst for ardor, innocence, and enterprise... in the States OR rural Africa, for that matter. (A "give them a TV, an Xbox, and a gift-card for the nearest BP convenience store and you'd never see them again" sort of image comes to mind... only Africanized, of course. It'd be a real Christmas Miracle if we went a day here without losing electricity.)
These guys, though... they've got it; all of it, and I don't mean food, cash-money, or that hypnotizing gaming system. They've got drive. Growing talent. And a hunger to help... despite the odds. Suddenly, my meaningful painting project just grew a little more meaningful.
After seeing Josie's artwork at Upendo and realizing his eagerness to have anything to do during his time out of school, Jennifer introduced him to me, thinking perhaps we could put our heads and skills together to create something beautiful. Upon meeting up with him, I threw out some basic ideas about jovial animals and ABCs for the wall of the preschool... explaining to him that this was strictly volunteer work and floundering a little bit with the language barriers along the way. I journeyed home a little skeptical about whether or not this new project would really materialize, to be honest. Projects in Africa, experience has shown, usually take a while to happen, if at all. Josie, meanwhile? Oh, he promptly went home to his ghetto with his roommates (two of whom immediately decided they wanted in on this volunteer-business) and began sketching majestic giraffes and beautiful African sunsets that very weekend. No joke. We had our first paint-date scheduled with him within the week.
One week later, I arrived at Step Up Amka ready to drop to my knees with gratitude and amazement... the boys, my new, adoptive baby brothers, are AWESOME. We may be able to talk to one another only just barely (though we desperately try, and it's hilarious), and they may come from a ghetto in Rau, but they can PAINT. Moreover, I've never seen any teenage guy more eager to do anything so arduous, time-consuming, and high-pressure for FREE. Heck, forget "eager"; these young men are earnest, and the quality of their work and dedication to it proves this. Don't take my word for it, however; check out some of the pics to follow. The transformation is like night and day. My kids come in to school every day so completely pumped about their new classroom, it makes my heart nearly burst. I am so, so thankful to have Josie and Co.'s help and talented art for my preschoolers to enjoy. Bonus, it's been such a pleasure so far to work and chat and hang with them, as they are great guys.
More than that, though... I'm thankful for this opportunity to give Josie and his comrades some quality time outside of the ghetto in Rau, and to share with them a sense of community and adult responsibility, as well as to instill in them, hopefully, a sense of pride about their work... because they should be proud of what they've done. It's an amazing (not to mention aesthetically pleasing) act of selfless giving. And who'd have thought it could all get done so quickly (or ever), and with such cool results? Not me, really... it's ridiculous... but it's such gratifying work when all of this is accomplished.
Again, as is now often the case... my cup runneth over. Meet Josie (above), Rogers, and Nickson:
Aren't humans so amazing sometimes?
ReplyDelete