Anthony's Story

Ever since I have returned from Tanzania my mind has been non stop thinking about what I saw and the kids I met. Everyone has asked how my trip was but I have been kind of distant in really talking about it because I'm not sure what to say or how to express it. This past week I've been really busy with things that have kind of kept my mind off of it and I think that gave me a little distance from it. On Thursday night I was fortunate enough to spend the evening w/ my friend Brie drinking wine and really talking about the trip. Brie and I haven't hung out in forever so I really think it was meant to be that she reached out & invited me over now because she's honestly the first person I've been able to really talk about this with in depth. (She doesn't know this but she will now! Ha!)
It was also on Thursday that a member of our travel group reached out with some ideas of things we could do collectively to help these kids. Things that are relatively small to us but would mean so much to them. Some of the places we went to do not even have drinking water & it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that these kids sit in school & cannot just go to the water fountain when they are thirsty.
Anyway, that's kind of how my weekend started out. What I want to share with you tonight is how it's ending. (Well technically I still have tomorrow before it's officially over but you get what I'm saying.)
While at one of the schools several of us talked to a boy named Anthony (I included his picture below). He is super smart & has such a great warm personality. I told him my name at the beginning of the visit and every time I would pass him he would say "Brandy!" While I was at this particular location I was a sizer therefore I didn't get to spend much time with him because I was sizing all the other kids feet. I did get a chance to take his picture which he asked if I would email him. Luckily two of the other girls on our trip got to talk to him a little more in depth and got his email address. I had promised him that I would email the picture so a few days ago I sent him an email with the picture and asked him to share his story with me.  Tonight I received his response which I want to share with you. (His English is very good but sometimes it is still hard to understand but you'll get the picture.)
"In short I started attending at the Centre when I was 10years old, before I was raised with my mother and I could not know whereabout of my father because my mother was suffering from mental sickness so she was moving with me every where in dumples collecting trashes and other wroten things, I did not feel bad because I was young. Despite her mental sickness she never let down I was always on her back whenever she goes, one day she left me on a dumple near the market and she was nearing another dumple, one lady came and took me away my mother chased her but she could not succeed to get me back, she came up to that house of that lady where I was locked in, I heard crying outside, I could no longer listening for my mother crying for me, so I beg out to go with my mother, but the lady did not want my mother to keep straying in dumples with me so she took both of us...! Actually after my mother's death I thought that I can no longer laugh because  I was thinking one day to take  care of her sickness but the time for her was too short  to wait for my dream, but I thank God that now days I can try to laugh and really feel much better when I do laugh...ok my dream is to be come a Doctor(volunteer) and my best area of work with my proffesion I would like to work in areas where there is most vulnerable children because I do not want them to experience what I experienced!"
As you can see Anthony has had a very hard life but what is amazing to me is how positive he is. In talking with him at the center he seemed very joyful and I would not have guessed that this was his story. Knowing his full story makes me feel so much more grateful for everything I have in my life. It's kind of hard to complain about anything when you hear his story. I know that he will do great things in life because he is so positive and the reason that he is able to do it is because he has someone who sponsors him which is enabling him to go to college. He told me that his "heart is yearning" to read more novels which is so great to hear. He also made sure to thank me for sending him an email.
I hope that Anthony's story inspires you in some way. I am planning on going back to Africa with Soles4Souls in January (I think...they are also going in June). I would encourage any of you who are remotely thinking about doing anything like this to just do it. Your life will be changed forever.