Guess Who's Back?

This is Samson. Samson is a street boy here in Kitale. When we showed up at Oasis, back in July, I found a picture of him and asked where he was...Geoffrey said he had gone back to the streets; he didn't come to the centre anymore.

Walking through town about two weeks later, Samson walked up. I shouted "hey!" in an I-know-you voice. He said, in his broken English, "I have a picture with you...from Tumaini." (Remember the camps I mentioned Katie has been running for years? Well, they used to be held at Tumaini...so that's what this photo is from...camp at Tumaini.)

I see Samson now and again, in town. He always, always comes over to say hello.
Wednesday was no exception. He walked up as I was leaving the grocery store and asked for 10 shillings so he could go to the kinyozi (barber). I told him Oasis now has a kinyozi, so he could come there. He shook his head (which I thought he would, since he doesn't come to the centre). Luckily, Geoffrey was there, too. So Samson and Geoffrey spoke for a minute or two...and we left, thinking Samson we'd see Samson again, but not at Oasis.

Well, Thursday morning, Samson was there...we were still a little skeptical: maybe he'd come for a free shave and then take off...but he stuck around...and Friday morning, he was there, too.

I'm not totally sure what Geoffrey said to him, but that's just one more reason for me to think Geoffrey's the greatest: he loves and respects kids...and they love and respect him in return.

Here are a few more pictures of the Oasis kids at break.


To finish replacement shopping, we went back in to town yesterday. This time, I had four boys with me: John, Moses, Johnstone and Timothy. We stopped for ice cream and soda (again) on the way out.

Timo
Moses and John
Stone

The rest of our Friday was filled with a visit to Shimo and dinner at Boy's House 3. In hopes of keeping your attention, I'll split the posts up...