This month I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with Edd (not his real name), one of the students at DtonNaam where we’re working. He’s been horribly sick recently so one of the ways that they wanted me to spend time with him was to teach him personal hygiene, basic nutrition, and exercise. This would help him be able to know how to take care of himself better so he can recover.
I've met with him a few times each week, with a translator because he speaks little English.
His eating habits are poor. Most of what he eats are sweets so I tell him about eating plenty of fruits and veggies and drinking water. Simple concepts, but hard for him to want to implement.
One day we went to the mall and got fruit smoothies. We’ve gone to the park together to walk, do some of the exercise machines, and play badminton. He does love to play badminton although he tires quickly! To him I know that just spending time and giving him attention means a lot to him.
One of the funniest times when I was with him was the first day. We walked out the door to go to the park. Not even ten feet out the door we saw a woman with a basket filled with some sort
of crunchy fried noodles. Edd saw them and
immediately got excited and headed towards them, wanting to buy some. I just had to laugh as I pulled him away! Here we had just been talking eating fruits and veggies and were going to the park to exercise and he gets distracted by the crunchy fried noodles!
It broke my heart when I first heard his story. He's so young (18) but been through so much and none of it was his choice. He grew up in the slums and didn’t have a good family life. His father wasn't around much and the family had little money. He started selling himself in his young teenage years to men in the slum community and as well as working in the bars for a short while so he could make money.
Now he’s horribly sick and he didn’t have a choice about any of this. The things he did, he did so he could survive. Sadly, in the slum community, the risk of disease is high, due to the lack of hygiene and sanitation.
DtonNaam is a safe place for Edd, and other boys like him, to be. He is transformed from the life he used to live and now has a fresh chance in life. He joins us in Bible study and has a job at the coffee shop. This is just one of the many lives that have been changed because of what DtonNaam is doing.
