A Series of Unfortunate Events: So far away from hope

Lusaka was overrun with street children for the past 7 years, I am told that up until this year it was reaching a critical mass and the government was forced to intervene. There are still hundreds of children living on the streets but the numbers have been reduced and various programs established to absorb the forgotten youth. Its never easy to see poverty and the effects but your tolerance to such images adjusts, you are desensitized to a degree. I encountered the dark face of poverty last week when I found 2 small boys no older than 9 or 10 in the ditch passed out. I first checked their pulse to make sure they were still alive then managed to assist one of them to sit up and try to explain what was wrong with the other child who was unconscious. It was difficult getting any kind of information because the child was incoherent and would loose awareness every 10 minutes. A couple of people tried to help me communicate by speaking with the child in his native language but the efforts proved useless. Someone suggested the kids were probably sniffing glue or gas; a common practice by children living on the streets, to numb hunger, depression, illness, life. This was possible but I felt the children were physically sick and needed medical attention, they were both running high fevers and had small sores around their mouths, they were most definitely hungry and dehydrated, perhaps a combination of other diseases. After 2 hours of waiting for assistance a friend from the UN was able to make the necessary contacts, and the children were taken to a clinic and center for street kids. I was very happy to know they would receive medical attention and thanked my god for not letting one of the children die in my arms. The boys did not seem afraid even though they live a life we only experience in a movie or nightmare; the only time they would cry was when I rubbed their smalls backs and told them I wasn’t leaving and that everything was going to be OK.

When I saw the little boys drive off I was disgusted and furious with all the people who walked by me in the ditch, the police who couldn’t have been bothered, the people who I called who are paid to care but don’t actually, the government, the education system. I eventually digested the day and my rage gave way to inspiration; inspiration to commit to making change happen.

Find a way to nurture the fragile seed of hope, commit to making this world a better place any way you are able; Start today, begin now.