Street kids, giants, and superstars.
 
Our day began with an early orientation at the Kabul School for Street Working Children.   We learned all about the programs run by our host organization to help get Kabul street kids – forced to work the streets as their family’s primary income earners – off the streets and back into the classroom.
 
The students range in age from 5 to 12 and are in grades 1 through 4.  They typically are forced to drop out of public school to work the streets selling incense, plastic bags, anything they can find… occasionally themselves.  Staff members from the school seek out these kids, meet with their family, and offer to get them up to speed educationally and socially with the goal of getting them back into the mainstream school and social systems.  One major enticement to get the kids back into school is that they are given a hot, nourishing lunch every day – most likely the only decent meals they would get that week if it weren’t for the school.  We were blessed to be allowed to serve the kids that lunch today.
 
I addition to the three R’s the kids are given lessons in geography, music, computers, sports, social skills, and even basic hygiene like how to use a toilet (many have never even seen one before), wash their hands, and brush their teeth.  But what really sets this school apart is the school can even sometimes provide tools to help their parents, like a sewing machine and training that can provide some tailoring income so they can begin to try to break out of extreme poverty.
 
There are currently more than 500 street kids attending the Kabul School and the school’s director gave us the incredible opportunity to teach a lesson to several of the classes.  Courtney and Caelyn put together an energetic and fun skit around the story of David and Goliath from the Old Testament (which some of the kids were already familiar with) and then we all sat with the kids and helped them draw and color King David’s crown.
 
The next three hours we spent with the kids are a blur.  We sat with the kids and laughed with them, colored with them, played with them, hugged them, and reminded them that they matter.  I don’t know who enjoyed it more… the kids, the teachers, or our team.  But it didn’t matter… we connected in a very special way that none of us will ever forget.
 
After the lessons were done, the crowns colored, and lunches devoured, we headed back to the guest house for a special luncheon with the staffs from the school and our host organization.  It was our way of saying “Thank you!” to people we consider true superheroes – teachers and staff who are able to create a fertile learning environment for kids with little or no socialization (think: raised by wolves) and with very limited resources.  Oh yeah… they do all this in an active war zone.
 
The lunch was a special opportunity to connect one-on-one in an informal setting with our heroes and talk less about school and more about our everyday lives in the US and Afghanistan.  Lots of old friendships were renewed and many new ones begun.  It was a wonderful time that we vowed to repeat.
 
The Internet connection is good so I'm going to hit SEND now.  Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
 
--Bob
 
 
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