As 7 World Racers stand waiting at a busy intersection for
bus #46, a young boy about 5 foot tall comes from nowhere and stands awkwardly
beside us. It is as if he was deciding if we were worth bothering, or maybe
fighting his pride.
Whatever his previous thoughts, He decides to begin his begging
routine with fellow teammates across from me. A soft-spoken “20 Shillings?”
comes out of his practiced smile. I glance at him and return his smile while
still carrying on in conversation with Amanda. That gives him the attention he
wants. He moves toward us, smiles, and sticks out his hand. “Do you have 20
Shillings? 10 Shillings,
” he says, followed by more words in Swahili. I say
no politely but something in me doesn’t avoid eye contact. Look at him, look at his precious smile. I let him know that “I
don’t speak Swahili” but I’d like to learn. Since he knows some English we are
able to start a conversation. “Teacher”, I point at him, “Can you teach me
Swahili?” Taken aback by my reaction to him, he sorts out some words and
begins.
“Habari gani” is how are you?
“Mzuri” is good.
We repeat and practice.
“Jambo”
“Jambo jambo”
Another well-known greeting.
In English, he even asks where we came from. I say Thailand,
but America originally; we have actually been traveling, flying around the
world (hand motions included).
He says he has been walking around Nairobi. This makes me laugh. We shortly find out his name is Joseph
or “Yoseph” and that he is 16 years old.
We hold a conversation with him. We give him the time of
day. He didn’t continue begging. Upon learning rafiki, the Swahili word for
friend, we would point at ourselves and at him. “We are friends… rafiki!.
Rafiki, rafiki, rafiki.
More practice.
And then he interrupts, “I have to go somewhere.” It was as if someone
caught him not making money, or maybe he did have somewhere to be.
Kwaheri Rafiki !(Goodbye friend!). Kwaheri Rafiki he
repeats with a genuine smile. I pat his back as he walks past to gesture all
the love I can give.
In this 5-minute conversation, Joseph stole my heart.
