Henrique

School changes every single day. Attendance remains a big frustrating issue. I am learning to be patient with myself and with them. I have to remind myself that at 14 if I were given the choice to go to school or get out of it, I would be at the Dairy Queen with Becky and Elizabeth. I am going with the flow and letting things adapt. 

Henri in 2007

When I was here in 2007 I met a boy named Henrique. He wrote his name Henri on my notebook and drew me pictures. He was about 10. We went for walks on the beach. He lived in the nearby village but would join the other village kids and come over to our base to play and look at the white people. He was good company and a sweet boy. He taught me Portuguese and I bought him Cokes and tried to learn about life from a boy who lives in a village in Mozambique. Around Christmas I saw Henrique in town. I was driving and had friends in the truck and he noticed the logo on our truck and asked for a ride to the base. He asked my passengers and not me and jumped in the back and although I recognized him right away I was not able to jump out and hug his neck like I wanted to. Plus that would not have been appropriate any way. He jumped out at the gate and I wondered if I would ever see him again. I knew he would be all grown up and wondered how his life had changed. One day last week I saw him outside our main gate just walking by. I stopped and called his name. He came over and we talked a little bit. He told me he went to school at night. I invited him to our school. On Monday morning, he came! He walked up accompanied by Manuel. Manuel is over our Village Feeding program. That is not the politically correct term for it but it best describes the gist of it. We feed children every day and play music and games and have small sermons. The kids love it. Manuel does the whole thing and is amazing. There are literally hundreds that come every day and Manuel has it running smooth and loves what he does. He is a solid, strong, passionate man of God. He stands next to Henrique and is beaming. I see the resemblance. He tells me that Henrique is his brother. He tells me that he has been praying for Henri and that this is nothing short of an answer to prayer and thanks me for inviting him. We happened to have a visitor there that day and after one hour of English she taught them dance. Turns out she is a trained dancer and has taught dance all over the world. She wanted to teach the boys the Lindy Hop. She knows all about the history of dance and how the blacks in New York in the 20’s and 30’s changed dance by teaching the white folks how to do it. It was beautiful and hilarious watching the white lady teaching the black boys to Lindy Hop and the boys loved it. They learned “right” and “left” and I laughed and they sweated. She is coming back tomorrow and they are going to teach her. I pray Henrique comes.