Today was a very special day for one particular child we met during one of our homestead visits.
His name is Mega (pronounced Mare-gar) and he used to live with his mother, stepfather and two stepbrothers and an unrelated gogo until recently when his mother was killed in a stabbing incident in late 2010. After his mother died the stepfather took his two biological sons and left Mega to literally fend for himself. The gogo’s care for Mega was very poor as she was constantly out getting drunk on homemade brew.
It was sad to see this young 7-ish year old live in dirty rags with little or no hope of any decent future. Unable to go to school simply because he had no school uniform.
Something had to be done and with the kind donations that we raised we decided today to make Mega “King for a day”.
Our first stop was to put some food in this hungry boy’s mouth. We stopped at a fast food /takeaway shop and ordered him two pieces of fried chicken, chips and a soft drink. When the food was brought to where he was seated, Mega (with wide open eyes) asked in Siswati if all the food was for him. When we said ‘yes’ he proceeded to shovel the food into his mouth at such a rapid rate. It was obvious he hadn’t eaten properly for sometime – he devoured everything including the inside of the chicken bones as well as Fiona’s leftovers (not a bad feat we all thought).
After lunch we walked down to the local barber to give Mega a haircut to get him ready for school. Where else do you take a king to get his haircut but ‘King Barber’ of course! He looked a little apprehensive at times but would reassure us every now and then with his little smile. He looked great.
After getting his head shaved we walked 30 metres or so to a local backstreet market to buy Mega something to wear on his feet. He liked a pair of crocs and they seemed to fit quite nicely!
We then made our way to “PEP” – a retail store that sold clothes and in particular school uniforms. We bought him school shoes, socks, shorts, pants and shirt as well as underwear, toothbrush, tooth paste, t-shirts and a toy car.
It was a hot day and our ‘king’ wanted some ice cream. So we went back to the fast food shop and granted Mega his request. Once again he woofed it down in a flash, hardly taking a lick break even when asked to take a photo.
From there we took him to our house and let him wash himself under a hot shower. When he came out Fi put on one of his new t-shirts, and then gave him a quick lesson in writing his name. He did well. He also drew us some pictures.
The day was almost over. Fi played with him on the playground at Mabuda Farm. Joy was all over his face. He climbed, slid down slides, played on swings and had a ball.
It was a great day for this special boy who through generous donations now has the opportunity to have an education. With some of the money raised we hope through Make Gamedze to continue to supplement his daily nutritional requirements (mealymeal, beans, etc). We are also working on getting this double orphan into an orphan care project where he can be properly looked after.
On behalf of Mega we’d like to say ‘thanks’ for your wonderful support… you have just changed a life!
