Stopping for the One

Today I found myself stopping for one. One boy whose name I still don’t know was “trailed” into church by his sister? and friends. He was from the Bocaria. The reason for the trailing was the massive cut on his heel. His friends were trying to look after it by tying a very dirty rag around it. The kid was in agony, eyes dull and came and sat on my knee and just clung looking for that place of security and someone to protect his foot from his friends.

I eventually tracked down the medical on call person and took him to the clinic to see if there was anything we could do. The nurse firstly soaked his foot. The amount of sand in the wound was unbelievable and the rawness was horrible too.

This kid didn’t speak at all but yet he did all his communication with his eyes. He looked at me as I carried him to the clinic as if to say, “I don’t know where you are taking me but I do know you are trying to help.” Well I like to think that is what he was thinking.

While we were waiting, to try and distract him from the pain of cleaning the wound, the nurse gave him a biscuit. He devoured it. She then handed him the packet and a fizzy drink - he hardly took time to breath while eating, I got the feeling he hadn’t eaten much all week.

The sight of a kid so hungry really hit me hard. He did seem brighter once we were leaving. Food in his stomach, clean bandage on his heel and someone to say, you are worth helping. We did what we could today. We spoke to the girl who was caring for him to ask if they could bring him back to get the bandage changed tomorrow. Now we wait.