We left early in the morning to catch our bus to Nairobi. We were finally leaving to get Benjamin from Nairobi! We were accompanied by David Kirui, the headmaster at Mariann. As we arrived in Kapsabet and waited in line for our tickets, I noticed one of the many street boys sitting on the steps staring at us. He saw me looking at him and motioned for money. I shook my head and smiled. Every time I would look back at him, he'd motion again for money. Each time I'd shake my head and smile. A little while later, still in line, I saw a man out of the corner of my eye.. he'd walked up behind the boy and kicked him in the back to make him move out of his path. The boy jumped up and ran off. He disappeared for a little while, but soon found us as we headed to get some breakfast, this time accompanied by another boy. He asked us for money, which we again refused to give. Then he asked for food.. They followed us into the cafe and sat down at the table with us. David told them to go wait outside for us. Morgan and I had wanted to talk to them, so after talking to the others, we asked them to come back in. Morgan and Leah gave the two boys their chai and we bought them some mandazi (a traditional type of fried bread - really yummy!) As we sat with them, we asked their names and ages. The one boy from the bus station was Meshack, who still sat very quietly. Collins was the talker, 
and he informed us in surprisingly good English that he was 11 and that Meshack didn't know how old he was. (We've found that so many people don't know how old they are or when their birthdays are.) Collins soon noticed that Morgan and Leah weren't drinking chai and asked where it was. After Leah explained that they'd given them their chai, a look crossed Collins' face and he said, "thank you..". We noticed that one of Collins' pupils was white. When we asked him about it, he said he could only see out of one eye.
We chatted for some time and then the boys decided to leave. Collins neatly stacked his plates and cup and thanked us and left. We found them again on the way out. They'd found their "leader" and brought him to find us. (We've found that to be typical behavior - if we ever feed one, they usually go get this same boy so he can try to get food too.) We walked together for a while, and the whole time the leader was trying to get money from us and Meshack
was sucking fumes from his glue bottle. The leader was walking beside Morgan just ahead of me, and Meshack and Collins were beside me. "You give me ten shillings," the leader said. "Nope, sorry." "Okay, ten dollars." "Ha! No! :)" "Okay, twenty dollars." I finally said, "If we give you money you will only buy glue with it." As soon as I said it, Meshack took his bottle of glue and chunked it across the road. I started laughing and held up my hands, "What was that?!" Meshack started laughing and slapped his hand into mine and shook it.
While we walked, I reached over to tickle Collins on the neck, and immediately he turned around and backhanded Meshack hard across the head. I looked at him, surprised, and said, "That was me! Why did you hit him?" "It was you?" "Yes, me. Apologize to him!" Collins turned around to Meshack and said, "I'm sorry.. I am sorry."
Finally, I think David got tired of the boys following us and went to them and said in Kiswahili that they needed to leave us alone, to which they replied, "But we are not disturbing them. We are escorting them!" They finally left because he told them that if they didn't, we wouldn't buy them chai or mandazi anymore.
We have continued to run into Collins and Meshack on our weekly visits to Kapsabet, and we are always greeted with a huge smile, handshake, and request for money and food. We're trying to establish a relationship with them to show them love for even the short time that we're here. I'm still amazed at how smart and witty they are, and still brokenhearted and the hand they've been dealt in life. I pray the Lord gives us wisdom in dealing with them and how to love them.
- Gloria
and he informed us in surprisingly good English that he was 11 and that Meshack didn't know how old he was. (We've found that so many people don't know how old they are or when their birthdays are.) Collins soon noticed that Morgan and Leah weren't drinking chai and asked where it was. After Leah explained that they'd given them their chai, a look crossed Collins' face and he said, "thank you..". We noticed that one of Collins' pupils was white. When we asked him about it, he said he could only see out of one eye.We chatted for some time and then the boys decided to leave. Collins neatly stacked his plates and cup and thanked us and left. We found them again on the way out. They'd found their "leader" and brought him to find us. (We've found that to be typical behavior - if we ever feed one, they usually go get this same boy so he can try to get food too.) We walked together for a while, and the whole time the leader was trying to get money from us and Meshack
was sucking fumes from his glue bottle. The leader was walking beside Morgan just ahead of me, and Meshack and Collins were beside me. "You give me ten shillings," the leader said. "Nope, sorry." "Okay, ten dollars." "Ha! No! :)" "Okay, twenty dollars." I finally said, "If we give you money you will only buy glue with it." As soon as I said it, Meshack took his bottle of glue and chunked it across the road. I started laughing and held up my hands, "What was that?!" Meshack started laughing and slapped his hand into mine and shook it.While we walked, I reached over to tickle Collins on the neck, and immediately he turned around and backhanded Meshack hard across the head. I looked at him, surprised, and said, "That was me! Why did you hit him?" "It was you?" "Yes, me. Apologize to him!" Collins turned around to Meshack and said, "I'm sorry.. I am sorry."
Finally, I think David got tired of the boys following us and went to them and said in Kiswahili that they needed to leave us alone, to which they replied, "But we are not disturbing them. We are escorting them!" They finally left because he told them that if they didn't, we wouldn't buy them chai or mandazi anymore.
We have continued to run into Collins and Meshack on our weekly visits to Kapsabet, and we are always greeted with a huge smile, handshake, and request for money and food. We're trying to establish a relationship with them to show them love for even the short time that we're here. I'm still amazed at how smart and witty they are, and still brokenhearted and the hand they've been dealt in life. I pray the Lord gives us wisdom in dealing with them and how to love them.
- Gloria
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