Thursday, September 20, 2012

Davis

Davis is a really special kid.  I met him because he used to live at the house I stayed at when I was in Uganda the first time.  He unfortunately kept making bad choices and kept running away.  The last time he left, he was told if he left, he couldn't come back.

He left anyway.

That happened when I was gone.  When I got back to Uganda in January, I found him on the street.  It seems with these boys, once they start running they don't stop.  As a result, most organizations put a limit on the number of times a boy can come back because usually they will just run again.  The worst thing is, sometimes they will take other boys with them or steal things as they leave.  A limit kind of makes them think about their plans to run again, but really if a boy has it in his mind to run, he will no matter who is around or what is done to stop him.

That is what happened with Davis.  I remember being home one time when he chose to run.  We all tried to talk him down.  It was the most intense of nights.

When Davis was on the streets, he would stop by the house sometimes. One time he got really sick so we let him stay the night so he wouldn't have to sleep outside.  The next day he woke up and left.

I really didn't know what to do for Davis. He had a special place in my heart and it made me so sad to see him on the streets. In the other home, he was always really nice to me. He loved my dog so much. He would take her and bathe her. That was no small feat. She hated baths and would go no where near the shower room if she thought she was about to get a bath. She weighed 80 pounds and she definitely wasn't doing anything she didn't want. He was patient though and tried to trick her. When that failed, he would just pick her up. I think sometimes my dog was drier than Davis after her bath. It never stopped him though. He tried to befriend my cat too but she kind of hates everyone (including me) so he didn't get very far with her.  He kept trying though.

I knew Davis had to want to be in the home for it to work.  For a while he seemed very indifferent to it.  He is a resourceful kid.  I am sure for a while he felt like he was doing fine and liked his freedom.  I found out that after I left, he had started staying with us more regularly.  The uncle knew Davis from before and really loved him a lot too, so he ended up letting Davis stay with us.  When I found out he was staying with us, I was really happy.

So far things have been going well with Davis.  He didn't want to go back to school.  He has never been crazy about it and really struggled.  His English is pretty good but he struggles to read.  He instead wants to be a mechanic.  So for now, Davis is staying at home and learning English and Math better and soon we will start to look for a garage that will train him.

Meet Davis!





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