(Update: I had to remove the boys names for legal reasons)
These are my boys. I spend a significant part of each day with them and am playing an interim father role during my month here in the Philippines. There are no males that work at the orphanage, so the other male racers and I are some of the only contact they have with Godly men.
A: (12) A’s story is one of the saddest. Somehow, he did not have any parental figures growing up. He, and his younger brother E (7), were living alone on the streets. One day, when A was cooking them a meal, E touched the cooking device and the whole structure caught on fire. A ran in to save his brother and suffered some burns on his arm. E hand is disfigured as a result of the fire. Left with nowhere to go, someone from the community (other squatters) brought them to the orphanage and they have been living here the last few years. A has been described as “12 going on 20.” He is the smallest, yet he always tries to act the oldest. Although it takes all his strength and his entire body to propel the basketball up into the basket, he has found a way and is surprisingly effective. He also likes to be a leader in the group and show he is competent. When he grows up, he wants to be a Zookeeper.
B: (12) B is the emotional one of the group. He is always smiling (or frowning very strongly). He wears his heart on his sleeve and loves physical touch. There is scarcely a moment when he is not holding your hand or climbing on your back. He also loves to tell practical jokes and has made a habit of going up to random white girls and telling them I think they are very cute. During our sleepover with the boys, B spent most of the night playing practical jokes. At one point, I awoke to a mattress being thrown on me and B bodyslamming me. (Don’t worry, I proceeded to roll his mattress into a taco and let just his head and feet stick out for a few minutes : ) Benjie wants to be a missionary when he grows up.
F: (10) F seems in many ways to be the youngest, although his comprehension is one of the best. He loves to dance and wants to be an artist when he grows up. He has actually spent a week in California with a prospective adoption family. Ultimately, all the kids hope to one day be adopted by an American family. (If anyone is interested, let me know). F dad poisoned his mom and she died.
Je: (12) J is one of the quiet ones. He recently broke his arm and so he is unable to play sports with us. He smiles the most though, so he and B are definitely one my favorites. I wish I knew more of what he was thinking and maybe within time I will have a better idea. He wants to be a policeman when he grows up.
Jo: (13) J tries to be the leader of the group. He is very competent and confident in his abilities. At the same time, he sometimes gets carried away and shows off a bit. In his better moments, he can be very sweet and looks out for the other boys and the other younger boys at the home. There was a point where I bribed the kids to share their histories and because I intentionally brought a limited number of prizes to encourage a few of them to speak, he divided his prize amongst the others and didn’t take anything for himself. He knows what he should do and often tries to be that good person who encourages the little kids and uses his skills to help others. He wants to be a pastor and I suspect that his experiences can make him very effective. Before coming here, he had a history of doing drugs and alcohol and stealing to surive.
Ju: (14) J is the quietest. Part of this might be his lack of confidence in his English speaking and part of it might be just his general demeanor. He is one of the more trustworthy and doesn’t ever really play practical jokes (unless all the rest of them). He is the most fatherly to the younger kids and voluntarily spends much of his time in the nursery. He wants to be a policeman. His silence means that he never really gets into trouble, but it also makes his past the most mysterious and I don’t really know anything about him. He definitely has a great heart though.
R: (15) R is the oldest and commands respect. He is very obedient to adults and tries to get the younger kids under control and respect the adults. His past is pretty tragic. His parents died and he went to live with his uncle, a gang leader. His uncle had R join the family business and had him help with his drug business. His uncle tried to have R kill someone, but R said he couldn’t do it. Thanks to his time with his uncle, R used to use drugs and specifically would sniff glue to qualm his hunger pangs. He is definitely a good kid and I am very thankful he is one of the group.
(left) Here is a picture of our basketball team. We placed 3rd in the tournament!
(Right) At the same tournament, they had the coaches duke it out in a 4 quarter ref’ed game. The victors are on the right (woot!)
(Left) Me learning how to ref basketball–trial through fire. (Right) We bring food to the homeless.
