I am so proud of Kelvin!
We have been talking to our older kids lately about the right and wrong
way of getting money, being good stewards with the little bit of money they
get, not wasting their money on silly things like bubble gum and sweeties, etc. So a few of the kids have been making and
selling beads, doing extra chores, gathering empty plastic bottles to clean up
and sell, etc. Still, most of the time,
they end up spending the 10/ksh (or whatever small amount they got) on bubble
gum or sugar cane instead of saving it up to use it wisely.
Before I tell you why we are so proud of Kelvin, let me
remind you a little bit of his background.
Kelvin is about 12 years old and has been with us since he was
seven. When he was placed with us, he
had endured terrible beatings and various sorts of torture his entire
life. He had (has) scars all over his
head from being beaten (cut with) a machete, along with lots of other scars all
over his body. Sometime along the way,
his arm had been broken and never treated, so it was crooked and hung awkwardly
by his side. He was an angry boy, which
was totally understandable, but we really didn’t know how to deal with him at
first. He’s the only kid that I actually
(for a short time) regretted taking in!
We just didn’t know how to help him!
In the end, all we really did was love him and assure him that he was
safe. I don’t think he totally believed
us until the day he was committed to the home by the courts. From that time on, he has become more and
more soft and sensitive! He loves the
babies and is really good with them! He’s
quiet and a little bit of a loner, but is really a sweet kid now days!
A few weeks ago, Kelvin came to me and said, “Mama Carla, I
have saved 150/ksh and would like to buy a rabbit.”
“Why do you want a rabbit?”
“So she can have babies and I can sell them.”
“Wow! That’s a great
idea! Sounds like a super good use of your
money! The only problem is that we don’t
have anywhere for the rabbit to live!
So, before you buy a rabbit, we need to build it a house.”
“Ok.”
I guess Kelvin knew that it wasn’t likely that building a
rabbit hutch would be at the top of our priority list, so he set out to do it
himself! He gathered up a bunch of scrap
wood and some nails and got started!
Adam (an awesome young man who is here doing building type stuff), took
pity on Kelvin and decided to help him out!
The cool thing is that Adam didn’t help Kelvin by doing it for him! He made Kelvin do the planning as well as the
actual building of the hutch! Adam
helped him think through the building process, step by step, but Kelvin did it
all by himself! For about two weeks,
every spare minute Kelvin could find; before school, lunch hour, after school,
all day Saturdays and after church on Sundays, he was out there working on his
project! He was totally determined and
focused and he finally got it done! I
have to say we were all very impressed!
The same day he drove the last nail, he got his female
rabbit! He still spends every spare
minute at the rabbit hutch; feeding the rabbit, cleaning out its “room”,
etc.! He’s now begging for extra chores
so he can buy a male rabbit too!
What a great kid! My
prayer is that this experience will give him the confidence to know that with
hard work and perseverance, he can accomplish more than he ever dreamed!
GIGATT!
