8th February 2015

What a weekend and its not over yet.
Shopping for the weeks food and I got left alone to carry it home. One girl went to trap her husband who was having an affair, then tried suicide, our gate I lock at 8pm and everyone knows it and I had to lock it when a boy was out.When the guard said he would fetch me he left. Thankfully he came back and it was a 2 hour counseling session as many issues were raised. Today he back to his amazing self. Woken by people calling my name, a boy from the street turned up with one of our boys who is having problems at home and has left and come back from the village for help. Street kid who I will call Bill has spent so much time in prison and he was relaying life on the street and the number of people who he has seen killed there. he refused tea and bread for breakfast because he said he was not allowed it in prison now he feels scared to eat it. Needless to say persuasion, kindness and love conquers all and he enjoyed it. Over breakfast he said he is putting his life in Gods hands now. He thinks we are Gods message to him to be a good person. He fell asleep as he doesn't get any sleep on the street during night time because he fears being murdered. As he slept the sun crept round so I went to wake him to move. As I touched him he reached up to take my hand and said ''I love you'' Wherever can you buy such treasured moments?? 
We have shelled thousands of monkey nuts to mix with sesame and make a paste like peanut butter which everyone loves. It will be a shared treat. Ronald is frying the beans to eat with potatoes today and then I am going for dinner with Daniel who is one of our boys who wants to cook for me and make a party. I will go on behalf of Julia too who is supporting him in his mobile phone technician business.

1st February 2015

What a weekend. I need an hour to write it all down but it should be told as a day which really is not untypical of life for children and families here. It has been a complete full on emotional roller coaster and with no staff working at the weekend I was completely alone. It started with an issue for a claim over a medical bill and threats to take us to court. That took lots of kindness and actually counselling of the man as he clearly had some of his own pressures. In the end he confessed he made threats because he felt alone and now he could feel he trusted us and would negotiate. I gave him a Sandra hug which he made last a long time and held so tight. Sigh of relief but that will be back tomorrow for a solution. Boy A declared that he was not happy in his current training and would like to change to driving so some explanations to be had there. Boy B talked to about running to town all day. Girl A is staying with me here with her 6 month old baby because she went to look after her husbands mother who was sick in the village. When she got home a day early she saw her husband had someone in her bed. He then offered her £5 to leave. He became hostile and she was scared he would kill her which is not unheard of in this country. Then 2 boys from the street came to visit. They are boys who were with us and one decided to go back to street life. He has been in prison 4 times and one of our boys told me he is now on cocaine. The other is a boy who is studying but in the 3 month Xmas holidays has been persuaded back. They had clearly not slept all night and fell asleep dirty on our verandah.I will not accept that here as an example to the other children and kept waking them and gave them a 20ltr jerri can to go to the well for water. That woke them up. They bathed, washed their clothes and I fed them beans and posho ready for the road. They left with a hug and a thank you as they have great respect. One promised to go back to his village and prepare for school and I wait for a call from the uncle to confirm his arrival. We never condemn these children when we know their background. In the street they are at great risk of death and if that really happens I want them to die at least knowing someone loved them. Isaac, staff, arrived at the office and could see the situation so offered to take me into town to get me away but I then saw one of those boys back in our kitchen asleep on the floor so I went to deal with that and Isaac abandoned me there. Anyway all settled I set off for a walk with Geoffrey to a peaceful hotel garden for African tea. The evening picked up again with Ronald not arriving home and I text him to say the gate was being locked in 5 mins. He arrived absolutely perspiring and his heart beating fit to burst. That brings us to today. I had to get out of the office so got ready and went to a dancey singey clappy church where we had cake and apart from one woman on the ground have 'The sins of the Devil ' shot from her by an over zealous pastor all was well. Visited Morris who had 2 seriously aching teeth then to town to buy a treat....... newspaper, an apple and a yoghurt. On arrival at home I found Ronald had left home soon after I left and had not showered before going to town. Unusual behaviour for my last visit but sadly I am seeing some changes in him. Long chat with his mum tomorrow has been requested. Geoffrey and I set about cooking lunch and Girl B rushed in to bathe as she was going to the village to rescue her cousin Girl C. In the year this family has lost both grandparents and Girl C also lost her mum in a fatal road accident. She was left a total orphan and lived in a hut that was occupied by her mum alone, which was not safe. She came to the office and sobbed last week and we had plans to visit her at home on Tues this coming week. However, we heard that the relatives had accepted a goat and chickens for this 15 year old girl to be his wife. This is actually a family matter which we could not get involved in so we paid the fare for 2 aunties and a cousin to go to the village and convince her to come back while we support them to get things sorted. They both arrived back at the office around 8.15 and had clearly had a difficult day. I also had Ronald and boy A staying who actually were acting exactly as stupid as 16 year old boys do. As they went to bed I started to talk to the girls. Girl C sobbed saying that she knows she is going to die very soon if she has to take tablets or poison. I held her tight and wiped her eyes but the pain and sadness I felt from her was unbearable. I did what i believed was best and told her I loved her and promised I would help her to not feel like this if she trusted me. She did so I persuaded her to go to bed where I tucked her in bed and placed my hands for a reiki fix. When I returned to the dining room Girl B was sobbing. @I just have no family now, my mum is in the village, my auntys husband will not allow us to stay there and there is just no one. What am i going to do for my baby will she suffer like I did?? Well that is a question we have to take seriously and break that mould. However she is right they are 2 young girls with no land to build a house, if they had land I have an offer of building a hut for them. That my friends is a story for another day. I am completely cream crackered and a full on day tomorrow. On a positive note one of our boys who is moving on to do his A levels this year has enrolled in a computer and admin, management course for 8 days over 4 weeks. We found it sponsored by a local MP and costs £8 total. Just looking where we can get that money from but what an absolute opportunity for him, I am as excited as he was. He said ''this has been the greatest week for me mum with you. You taught me how to eat raw cabbage on my beans, I tasted yoghurt for the first time, I have the computer training and you gave me rice and showed e how to do an e mail. Maybe I will never have such a wonderful week again'' Well folks how did that compare to your week??