Alexis' story, part 3

(the rest is on the SKIDS page)
6/2/2015

Friday morning, early visit to the doctor for serum injection and change of dressing (he’s getting much better), then off to one of the big local markets, for shoes and uniform. So now we’re ready for the journey to Butare, in the south, to reintegrate Alexis in his family and school; but actually it’s not Butare town, that would have been too easy: the place is Gikonko, far from the main road, which means nearly one hour of dirt road, extremely bumby, a good test for Mattia’s driving skills and finally a very good reason for the car we have (Toyota Rav4, nothing special for the local standards, among the rich people with cars, as there are much bigger ones; it is the most common vehicle around). Once we got there, things didn’t go exactly as planned, because the education officer for the region agrees to find a place for him in the local school, but the meeting with the mother is not as positive. The first moments were embarrassing, as they didn’t know how to behave in front of other people (Mattia, Elena, Eraste, Education Officer and Secretary) and most likely their feelings were confused as well, after over 7 months away, then they hugged each other and set next to one another; we reassured his mum that Alexis had been provided with what he needed for school (uniform, new shoes, copybooks and pencils) and that we’d pay for this medical insurance too, but then we reached the dramatic peak of the day, as she was still not at ease and at last broke down in tears, saying she was glad to have him back but she wouldn’t be able to feed him, because she was already struggling with her 3 other kids: “with me, he’ll starve or go back to the street”. The issue was that Eraste had only understood she agreed to have him back, but the whole picture was not clear to him… So we went to their place, a good house (built by the husband when he was in the army, so well paid), now nearly empty: one bed with a few blankets in one room, a coffee table with a bench and a chair in the main area, two rabbits in another room and a traditional pot on two bricks in the last one, with one plate. No kitchen-ware or food to be seen, no other clothes, nothing else. Definitely not easy to add a 14 year old to this, even just for the sheer size issue: how would they all fit in the bed? After getting pictures taken for the medical insurance, Alexis guided us on another 25 minute drive to the next town’s market, looking for a carpet (no mattresses available around, we’ll think about that) where he could sleep, but to no avail; at least we bought food supplies for some time: rice, potatoes and beans (plus a bar of soap). The plan now is to get back next month, with some source of income for Alexis’ mum, to support the family: the ideas are animals (a goat and some chickens) or some cooking supplies for her to cook food and sell it locally.
Update: Alexis is doing well and started school on Monday!

For more pictures of the day, have a look here (and select "Gikonko")