Saturday, October 27, 2007

Jackson and Kevin

When we arrived back in Kapsabet from Nairobi, we were soon approached by two street boys Kevin and Jackson. They wanted the usual.. food or money. We told them that we wouldn't buy them anything, maybe another day. I somewhat admire/dislike their persistence. Instead we told them we wanted to be friends, rafiki, and that we wanted to visit with them. I don't really think they understood. We taught them our names, and told them that we didn't want to be called wazungu anymore. Kevin always forgets and calls me wazungu, and I only have to give him a look and he remembers. "Eh wazungu,... er, Gloria!" to which we laugh and give a thumbs up.

I see them every time I come to Kapsabet. This time, however, Kevin was as high as a kite. He was waiting outside the cafe when Morgan and I came out. He immediately asked for food. I told him I would give him food if he'd collect bottle caps for me. (I'm using them to make windchimes with the 4th graders.) I don't know if he understood or not. He just kind of stared past our heads with a glazed expression and made noises of understanding. But when I saw him again in the same place, he walked toward me with a huge grin on his face and he was carrying a mud brick. Jackson followed close behind. I asked him, "Kevin, what is that? Where are the bottle caps? That's not a bottle cap!" He muttered something that I didn't understand and threw the brick down. I asked him again where the bottle caps were, and he motioned over towards the grass. I followed him over. He reached down and picked up his bottle of glue and held it up with a huge grin. "But that's not what I told you to do.. I said if you picked up bottle tops, I would give you mandazi." He nodded in understanding. Jackson came up and said he wanted food. I explained my proposition and he seemed to understand. We'll find out after we leave here if they really understood.

- Gloria

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