I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome David, Tito, and
Nelson. They are brothers whose grand mother can't take care of them
any more. Their home was literally a few pieces of bamboo with burlap
sack as the roofing.  We have brought the three boys into our home and
are building a house for the grand ma.
         When they first came they all appeared to be nearly the same
age 10 to 12, I asked who was oldest and who was youngest, then I
asked the youngest how old he was, he said '12'  that was older than I
would have guessed but OK.  Then I asked the next in line he said 10,
I sensed a problem.  I then asked the oldest how old he was he said 6.
Hmmmm.  I asked him how he could be 6 and the oldest and he just
scowled at me as if I were making fun of him.  OK on to another
subject… I explained to them how Kedesh works and what is expected of
them.  They understand Portuguese and responded well so they are smart
enough boys.  I would say their linguistic skills are about the best
of new comers.   It is common to have a new kid that doesn't speak any
Portuguese and for the first season I have to have a translator for
him.  They haven't had any schooling so don't read or write.
       Stan is another new boy we have, he is the grand son of one of
our widows.  The first house we built for a widow was for his grand
ma.   We have been supporting them for several years now with food,
clothing and school fees.  Stan is a very well behaved boy, very happy
and surprisingly honest.  Since his family was already being assisted
by Kedesh, he was already familiar with us and slipped right in.  The
other three brothers though weren't that easy, they were not sure what
to make of this hairy white guy.
       We also had one other new boy Mark, he's 53 and from the
States.  He came to join us for a month helping us with his carpentry
skills.  He was very helpful in doing some building work for us: vents
in our tin roof, ladder, stove top…  But I have to say that probably
the highlight for Mark and the boys was making their own kites.  The
boys make their kites from a time age old tradition, out of plastic
bags from the store, twigs from a tree and string from the fibers of
plastic 'burlap' bags that we get rice, flour and beans in.  On
average they are the size of an A4 piece of paper.  Mark decided to
make his own and the first couple did not, shall we say… fly.  Not to
be out done by 8 year olds, he did it the American way… no he didn't
go to the store and buy one, the other American way.  He made a 6 foot
one!  Armed with a retractable knife, off cuts of wood, sheet plastic,
and hemp string the monster demon came forth!!!  Now the boys were
laughing a different tune at this one.  Mark climbed to the second
tier of the water tower (about 5 meters, 15 ft) and hung on for dear
life, his black demon seeking to pull free of it's bondage wanting to
possess the nearest tree.  Needless to say this caused a few people to
stop on the road to wonder who was going to cast who where.  After a
while the wind died and the black demon sunk in defeat and Mark
climbed down from his cement tower beaming, hero to the boys.   The
demon sits in a corner of our dinning room waiting for the next person
daring to take him on the wings of the wind.  But no takers as of yet,
this one goes out only with strength and courage.
For the meek of heart, water coloring became a past time as well and
we discovered some unknown artists in the house.  Our entire house
began to look like someone's refrigerator front.  The boys proudly
hung their designs of flags cars and houses everywhere. Mark coached
and praised them in their work as if they spoke English and they
smiled and were proud of their work brought and hung by the master as
if they understood English.  Art, and kites, you don't need language
just the supplies, and a retractable knife.

 

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