This morning I checked my facebook status and saw that another friend was headed to the market. I hasn’t been open in several days and with the current political situation being what it is, I darted out of bed, threw some clothes on and headed out myself. We have so many people depending on us for food, if we run out, we feel it.
As I was backing out fo the driveway, I saw a couple street kids hanging around my gate. It’s been a while since I’ve had kids at my gate, so I paused to see what was going on. “Nou grangou, Shelley.” We’re hungry. They said.
The current political situation has a lot of innocent victims. Marchants live day to day on what they sell. If they can’t sell, they don’t eat. And that means their children don’t eat. Kids will go a day or so without eating- they’re used to that. But as day two and three wear on, they start to get restless. These couple of kids were walking the streets, peering under rich people’s gates (like mine) and looking for whatever scraps they could fine.
I told them I was going to try to go to the market to see if it was open.
Probably no more than five minutes later I had forgotten all about them.
I was so pleased to find a gas station open and the grocery store open. I stocked up.
More than usual.
When the recount results are released, who knows what will happen. We have been blockaded in our house for the past three days and I want to be ready.
Not a thought about those kids on my brain, I casually returned home.
As I rounded the corner to my street, my heart stopped… there was a whole PACK of street kids. They started cheering when they saw my car… CHEERING.
Oh no…. I wasn’t even really thinking about them when I did my shopping…
We do various feeding programs from time to time and it is generally a thankless job. Kids act wild, hoard food and leave the house a mess. This was different. These kids were hungry. They were hoping for any scrap they could get.
I passed out bread and peanut butter, and a little water. I didn’t have enough time to cook anything for them.
They were mesmorized with my white children and our big dogs. They were all from a nearby tent city of 5000. Apparently the Red Cross generally feeds them, but they hadn’t been able to come because of the riots.
I asked the boys where all the hungry girls were. They said that they aren’t allowed out in the streets to look for food. I guess they go hungry.
I just wanted to take a moment to tell their story. Kids are hungry. We feel it. It is more newsworthy in my opinion than the burning tires on our corner. It is more noteworthy than rediculous political candidates and demonstrations. When I saw those kids, my heart started beating faster. They are the reason I am here. They are what is important in this country.
