Take My Son Away

Yesterday was laundry day! In the morning I was rinsing and hanging my clothes to dry, so we arrived at Smile a little later then usual. It was an overcast day, so it made the walk a lot cooler! When Julian and I arrived at Smile I went right into the babies room to find every baby asleep. Caleb had fallen asleep on the floor with his toys on his belly. It was so cute. While I was putting my bag down I heard a piercing scream. I knew instantly that it was Bogere. I dropped my bag and ran out of the babies room. I have never run so fast! I found Bogere on the ground holding his foot. I asked him what happened, but he couldn't respond because he was balling his eyes out. I removed his hand that was on his foot and saw that he had ripped his toe nail off as well as a piece of his toe. There was blood everywhere. Kids began to gather around the scene. All I could say was, " Oh my gosh." I told all the kids to go away as I tried to pick Bogere up. Remember, Bogere has HIV and I had nothing on my hands to protect me and there was blood all over his foot and his hands. I picked him up and held him away from me just to be safe. I brought him to the nurse, who saw all the blood, instantly put gloves on and took care of his wound. I felt so bad for my sweet boy. After that incident it was really hard for him to walk, so I had to carry him everywhere, which I didn't really mind and neither did he. Later in the day, 2 women from out of the country came to see Smile Africa. Pastor Ruth had asked me to show them around and share with them the heart of this place. So I did just that, with Bogere in my arms. By the end of the walk, Bogere had fallen asleep in my arms. Which is just what he needed. An hour later he woke up. My boy looked so well rested and so much happier. I took him to the babies room and he played with my phone and with Caleb and the legos. It was a good day. Michael also came and told me that Bogere did very well today. He told me that Bogere was respectful to the teachers and he even greeted Michael when he arrived at Smile. I was so proud of him. 

The day was finally coming to and end. Since Bogere could not walk on his foot I had to carry him back home to the slums. Julian accompanied me as well as a male teacher from Smile Africa. I wanted to make sure that we were going to be safe. Once we arrived at his home I saw the stepfather. I saw him sitting there, drunk. Tereza finally came out of the house, limping and she pointed to the man and said that he was the one that beat her. I knew it before she even said it. I could tell by the way that he was talking to Bogere that he was one the one that needed to be in jail. I had my camera out, so he asked me to take a picture of him. I was thinking, "Sure, I'll take a picture of you...then show it to the police." So I took his picture. Then he asked me to take a picture of him and Bogere. I looked at Bogere and he did not want to take a picture with this man, he was terrified of him. The man grabbed Bogere's arm and pulled Bogere to him. Bogere's eyes got big and he started crying. I removed the man's hand from Bogere and I picked Bogere up and said, "He doesn't want to, its okay. Once Bogere calmed down, I placed him on the mat that the man was sitting on and took a quick picture and then I picked Bogere back up. I don't hate people...but I really really dislike this man. I won't wish death on people, but I do wish life in prison for this evil man. 

This man then said that he heard that Bogere was misbehaving. I did not think it was necessary for this man to know what goes on at Smile. Especially since Bogere's behavioral issues were the stepfathers fault anyway! So I just said, "Bogere is a very good boy and everyone loves him." The stepfather then began to cuss Bogere's mom out in Swahili. When I asked the teacher to translate for me what he was saying, the teacher refused. He said, "Paris, I cannot even repeat what this man is saying to Bogere's mom." I looked at Bogere's mom and she reached her hand out to me and said in english, "Please come." And she escorted me away from her husband. It was interesting, it was as if she was trying to protect me from the hurtful words of her husband even though I couldn't understand them. She knows that I care for her and her son, so she wanted to protect me from the abuse of her husband. Once we got away from the crowd, she dropped to her knees and grabbed my hand and started crying. She said, "Please take my son away. My husband has kicked us out of the house. We sleep over there." She pointed to a pile of trash and human feces. My heart was breaking into a million pieces. Tereza said, "My husband has kicked me and Bogere and my baby out of the room we stay in, so we are forced to sleep here. Please take Bogere away before he kills him." I was trying my hardest to not break down in front of her. So I stayed strong and I said, " I will talk to Pastor Ruth and Smile Africa will help your family." I wanted her to know that her support came from Smile, not some American that came to save the day. I made sure that Bogere was going to be alright tonight and then I ran back to Smile. I was crying my eyes out as I ran to Pastor Ruth. She saw me in tears and said, "Oh my daughter, what happened?" I explained the situation to her and within 15 minutes, we got a house for Bogere and his mom and the baby. Praise Jesus! God is so good! This was a very hard day for me. Can you picture for a moment, your child, or little brother or sister sleeping in poop every night? It's hard isn't it? That was the harsh reality I had to face yesterday, but I am praising God for He is still good! When I arrived in my hotel room I cried out to God and said, "Daddy?! Where are you in all of this?! How can You stop this?! Please God! Make it stop!" Once I stopped yelling at God it was easier for Him to speak to me, so I laid down in silence. Then my Heavenly Father spoke to me and said, "Daughter,  I have not forgotten these people, in fact, I love them more than you do. I am here. Don't you see? I am stopping this...one child at a time, through You. Never loose sight of the one."