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Saturday, October 24, 2009

Opiyo and Okello


This is Opiyo (on top) and Okello. They are brothers who have had a life that has not been in any one way easy. I met these guys a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with them. They are two of the roughest kids that I have ever met but have the sweetest hearts at the same time. They have never been to school. The reason is their father has eight wives and over thirty children. He only earns about 40$ a month. This means it is impossible for him to support his children.
These boys have had to make their own way of survival. The whole village knows these boys. They sleep in an abandoned building. If it becomes "unabandoned" or if the authorities chase them out, they find another one. For a while, they were sleeping in the house next door to me while it was being built. When the family moved in, they had to look for another place. They spend the days looking for food. Sometimes they look for scrap to sell. Other times they look for people to wash clothes or cars for.
They both desperately want to go to school. They understand that without an education there isn't much in the future for them. This school year is almost over (just 3 weeks remaining for most boarding schools) and obviously they will need to be in a boarding school. I think they will do great in the same school where Tracy is.
Opiyo is a twin and would like for his brother to go to school with him. I've told them that I'll take all three of them to school next year.
They are excited about it and I'm again stretching my faith. None of them are yet sponsored............

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