Byron

So, here is my update on Byron.  Since we were here last year I (Joyce) have been trying to get Byron enrolled at CGA.  It is really  difficult to get into any class except for the Nursery class because the class of 30 second graders becomes the class of 30 third graders….and so on.  Out of all of the kids that we are lovin’ on, Byron is really the only one who has a chance to get it.  He is also the only total orphan, except Mavine, Eunice and Michael, and that is who CGA caters to…the total or partial orphan. 

Anyway, Lillian, the Orphan Overseer at CGA and I visited Byron, his grandmother (not really his grandmother…it is so complicated) and his uncles last year.  We told them that I wanted to help Byron at CGA but it was up to them to provide the legal documents of his birth and the death certificate of his mother.  So many people have forged these documents at the beginning of CGA only to find out later that some of the kids actually had parents, so they are pretty strict about proper documents.  Of course, last year no one did anything to secure the documents.  I could not understand why these people would not do everything in their power to help this child, but some people can be really lazy here in Kenya.  The good news is….Byron’s uncle has the mother’s death certificate now!!! And the birth certificate is relatively easy to get so we are 75% there.  David, Byron’s uncle, seems to really care about Byron and Byron is always happy to see him.  According to some records that David has obtained, Byron was born on June 25, 2007.  I really think he might have been born one year earlier…but no one ever seems to know their date of birth.

Today I decided to take Byron to the doctor because there are several things that I was worried about concerning his health.  I am pretty sure that his mom died of AIDS so I wanted to have him tested and YAY!!!  HE IS NEGATIVE!  No HIV/AIDS for this sweet Luo boy.  Next, he has a real big tummy and I wanted to see if he had worms…YES….he has worms and amoebas! So we got some medication for that.  Also, he had a terrible puss-filled ear infection last year and I wanted to check on that…it seemed fine!  I was also concerned that his head wound, from being hit with an axe (apparently an accident about 2 months ago) was not healing very well and I wanted the doctor to see the wound.  Go figure, the child gets hit on the top of the head by an axe and no one took him to the doctor for stitches.  Lastly, when I was wiping his little bottom after he poopered yesterday, I found some blood so that really concerned me.  So Dr. Sawa sent him to the lab for a stool sample, and a finger prick.  I told David that I was a mom and would be happy to take him to the bathroom and Byron was awesome and just poopered a little bit in the cup for me!  This is too much information, isn’t it?  

When we were finished with everything we came away with 3 prescriptions, some betadine for his head and once vitamin tablet.  It cost me a total of $24.00 for the doctor’s visit, the tests and all the medications.  Byron should be in good shape soon if his grandmother will give him his meds.  David said that he will help with those.  He seems to be a really sweet young man…about Nick’s age, with no wife or kids yet.  He has a good job working for an NGO helping school kids with uniforms, shoes and books.  I am hoping to be able to have him help our other little friends Oluach and Odis.  Their father is a drunkard who would not pay Oluach’s school fee of $1.90 so these brothers are not in school…I will save that story for another day.

Sister Adrian, Byron’s nursery school manager, says that Byron considers me his mother now.  I don’t know how I am going to leave in 2 months, but at least I will be able to keep up with Byron if he gets into CGA. Yesterday, Sister Adrian (who has been an nun for over 50 years!), Byron and David showed up at our house on David;s pikipiki (motorbike).  Byron was able to tell them how to get here!  The child is brilliant…but also a cheeky monkey!  When I was approaching the area where he lives a couple of days ago, I saw Byron kicking, Jackie Chan style, another little boy.  I think he is the terror of his neighborhood, but he is left alone all day, locked out of his house, while his old grandmother tries to find work, with no one to love him or discipline him.   Most of the time Byron is hungry when he comes to play at my house.  Who doesn’t love to feed kids???  I love to feed kids and do it every chance I get! 

I will let you know when Byron is enrolled at CGA…it is really excited  to know that there is occasionally something we can do that will make a life=long impact on a child.  Byron will have to walk down a dusty road everyday over a mile to school, but Lillian says that these little ones can always do it.  It might take a few weeks to get used to it, but I am breaking Byron in now because our house is near the school.  He will have a uniform, new shoes and two meals a day at school and teachers that will love him and not “cane” him.  And he will learn about Jesus too! How can it be better than that?  I know, he could come and live with me, or Morgan, or Ashley or Nick!