We’ve now entered our 5th month on the world race and have been living in Nepal. At the beginning of the month everyone’s teams were rearranged, new team leaders and squad leaders were raised up and we were sent out to our new locations. We were placed in Urlabari to help build an orphanage. So, right now that’s what we are doing.
Something that has been called to my attention is the amount of children who are addicted to glue. Today my heart broke when a little girl no older than 7 ran up to me holding a baby and asking for money. The baby looked dead. We can’t buy the kids food or drinks without opening it because stores make a deal with the kids that if they get people to buy them things they can return it and get some of the money. They then use that money to sniff glue and get high. The baby was drugged to make more people want to give money. It’s head drooped over the 7 year olds little arms. The baby’s bone was coming out of its head looking as if someone had dropped it on the floor or hit it with something. I tried to buy the children water, but when I opened the bottles they wouldn’t have it. They yelled at me in Nepalese and left. Later I found them asking another one of my teammates for money and, because she knew about the glue addition, she did the same thing I did. Luckily this time they took the food and drink.
A few hours later another boy approached us. We got him bananas and water. After he refused the gift he huffed paint in front of us. I had never seen it done before. He used a plastic sack that smelled like paint or gasoline and huffed in and out, in and out. This child is 8 he should be shooting plastic guns and playing with Legos. As my teammates spoke with him, an older man watched. We don’t know if this man was his drug lord or what but something about his presence freaked me out. He watched within an arms length distance behind a caged wall we stood next to. We didn’t want to leave this child. Who knows what was going to happen to him after we left. My teammates talked him into throwing away his plastic bag and tried to tell him about the Lord. They almost had to force feed him because he acted like he wasn’t hungry and wanted money instead. Sadly we had to go. Please pray for this boy. Pray that we will run into him again and pray that we are able to get him the help he needs.
