Last week we celebrated the one-year anniversary of the talibé center where J. and I work. The week before, we decorated the rooms with signs and construction paper chains, which the boys enjoyed making. The director of the center had invited a special guest speaker to come and speak to the boys on the day of the party. His name is JP, and the boys knew who he was because he has recorded a CD, and they listen to his music at the center from time to time. He brought his guitar and not only sang for them, but kept them entertained for an hour with games and stories. JP is wonderful with children, his love for them is evident and his enthusiasm and energy seemingly endless. The boys loved him!
JP pulling one of the boys out to the "dance floor."
It was so much fun to see the smiles and hear the laughter as we served them treat after treat. When we served them popcorn, it became obvious most of them had never eaten popcorn before – they were very tentative taking it. Some of them grimaced after tasting it and gave theirs away, but most of the kids’ eyes lit up when they had their first bite and they came right back for more!
This boy has come back for more!
We also had bissap, which is a thick red juice made from hibiscus flowers, cake, and ice cream. I got a huge kick watching some of the very young boys when they were handed their mug of ice cream. They all consulted together, huddled together, looking into one mug after the other – what is this stuff? It was surely a day of happy faces and new treats for the boys.
enjoying treats
But it was a bittersweet day for us, because one of “our” boys is missing. His name is Ousmane, and he has been coming to the center pretty much from the beginning. The group of boys is somewhat fluid at the center – boys come and go and we never know exactly who we are going to see each day. But there is a core group of boys that we know pretty well, who come consistently, and Ousmane was one of them.
Ousmane
He helped us make signs and drawings for the party the week before the anniversary, and put his name on the list for the next available almost-empty chocolate spread tub (the boys like to lick the tubs clean – boys are boys all over the world!); he showed no signs of running away or unhappiness. But then he failed to show up at the center on Monday. The director of the center spoke with his Koranic teacher, but the teacher had no idea what happened to Ousmane, he just didn’t show up on Saturday night when the other boys returned to the place where they all sleep.
After he had been gone a few days, the teacher tried contacting Ousmane’s village, to see if he had tried to get back to his family. He is only about 8 years old and has been a t. boy since he was probably 5, so how he would have found his way back to his village, I have no idea. But they hadn’t had any news of him there.
What is really disturbing to us is that the very weekend Ousmane went missing, there was a report in the papers here that there had been a kidnapping of several young boys in Dalifort, the same neighborhood the center is in. It happened in broad daylight in an area where our boys hang out. They know a lot of details about what happened because one boy was able to get away and give his report to the police. He says that whoever took them used something (probably chloroform) to knock them out quickly and when he woke up he could smell salt water and heard the men talking about a boat. He was then able to escape, but the other boys with him were not.
We have no way of knowing if Ousmane was taken by the same people. Or if some harm came to him as he perhaps tried to make his way out of Dakar and home to his family. We may never know what happened to Ousmane. If he was hit by a car or otherwise harmed – who would know who he was? He’s just a nameless, homeless boy – one of thousands that roam the streets here. It is heartbreaking to us, because we knew him. He was sweet and he smiled all the time. Honestly he wasn’t a very good student – he never seemed to care very much about learning his letters or doing a good job in his little notebook. But he loved to sit near us, and he loved to point out pictures in the books we’ve purchased for the center, and tell us the Wolof names for things.
The only comfort we have now is that Someone else knew him, too, and knows exactly what happened to Ousmane. The little song we used to sing when we were kids comes to mind… “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow black and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.” But it’s still sad to see the little hand that Ousmane traced and colored in, just two days before he disappeared. Boy, would we love to see that little boy walk back through our doors!
Ousmane's hand
Wow…my heart is breaking about this sweet-faced boy. I will pray for him and yes, there is Someone who knows.
all your boys are in my thoughts and prayers