Scam??
It was a Thursday afternoon, around 2:30pm. The sun had his eyes glaring down on us; faces glistened with sweat and wet shirts clang tightly to men’s backs. I was in the cool of my office, enjoying the brilliant invention of air conditioning when a boy walked in. He was a little over 4 feet, he had big round eyes - the kind that grip your heart. His faded grey shorts and what used to be a white shirt hang off his tiny frame, saved from sliping right off by a belt that was tightly locked around his waist.
I promptly discontinued my duties to embrace the reason this little soul was in my office; he should have been in school. Our eyes met in a brief locking gaze before he quickly looked down and fell to his knees. I had never seen such pleading marble sized eyes before - eyes drained of all childhood eagerness and play. In the most desperate and dejected of ways, he kept his eyes fixated on the carpet and in a monotone he whispered “Sibyo tyano nyabo” I responded and asked him to speak in English.
Like a tape recorder had been switched on he began again
“Goodafternoonmadam mynameis…Iamgoingtoschoolbutwaschaseawayforschoolfees. IamcomeheretoaskforyoukindassistancetogivemeanymoneysoIpayandgobacktoschool. IwaswalkingontheroadandseethisbuildingthenIdecidetocomeandaskassistance".
Wow! He had spoken dozens of words in seconds - stop, rewind, and start again.
A colleague, curious to know who the little boy was came by,the boy introduced himself again and explained the purpose of his visit. Because my colleague is Dutch, I asked the boy to take it slow, one sentence at a time.
This sincerely desperate child knelt down again, opened his tattered bag and presented his term report. He had been promoted to p6, had impressive marks in every subject - a clear demonstration that he studied hard.
Money or the lack of it stood in the way of him and first term as a semi candidate.
My Dutch colleague was most intrigued.
“Where do you live?”
“Kawempe”
“Who do you live with?”
“My grandmother and 2 younger brothers”
“What happened to your parents?”
“TheydieofAids”
Was he telling the truth or just tagging at our hearts for all the wrong reasons?
“How much are your school fees?”
“50,000 shillings sir”
“Have you collected any money so far?”
“Yes, sir”
He kneels down again and carefully withdraws an old dented tin Oxford math set from his bag. The Oxford set no longer had its utensils but there were broken pencils and used up pens. He lifted the paper on which the pencils rolled around and beneath was a starsh of Uganda shilling notes and coins.
“Do you promise me that you will not go and spend this money?”
“No sir, I gostraight to schoolandpayfees. I comeback and give you receipt. When termend I bringmy reportyousee”
He was given 50,000 shillings. I never saw a boy more grateful.
He was back on his knees;
“Thankyousir, thankyoumadam, Godblessyou, Godwatchoveryou, Godblessyou, thankyouverymuch. I’m goingbringschoolreceipt.
It’s been two weeks now and we haven’t seen him again.
I promptly discontinued my duties to embrace the reason this little soul was in my office; he should have been in school. Our eyes met in a brief locking gaze before he quickly looked down and fell to his knees. I had never seen such pleading marble sized eyes before - eyes drained of all childhood eagerness and play. In the most desperate and dejected of ways, he kept his eyes fixated on the carpet and in a monotone he whispered “Sibyo tyano nyabo” I responded and asked him to speak in English.
Like a tape recorder had been switched on he began again
“Goodafternoonmadam mynameis…Iamgoingtoschoolbutwaschaseawayforschoolfees. IamcomeheretoaskforyoukindassistancetogivemeanymoneysoIpayandgobacktoschool. IwaswalkingontheroadandseethisbuildingthenIdecidetocomeandaskassistance".
Wow! He had spoken dozens of words in seconds - stop, rewind, and start again.
A colleague, curious to know who the little boy was came by,the boy introduced himself again and explained the purpose of his visit. Because my colleague is Dutch, I asked the boy to take it slow, one sentence at a time.
This sincerely desperate child knelt down again, opened his tattered bag and presented his term report. He had been promoted to p6, had impressive marks in every subject - a clear demonstration that he studied hard.
Money or the lack of it stood in the way of him and first term as a semi candidate.
My Dutch colleague was most intrigued.
“Where do you live?”
“Kawempe”
“Who do you live with?”
“My grandmother and 2 younger brothers”
“What happened to your parents?”
“TheydieofAids”
Was he telling the truth or just tagging at our hearts for all the wrong reasons?
“How much are your school fees?”
“50,000 shillings sir”
“Have you collected any money so far?”
“Yes, sir”
He kneels down again and carefully withdraws an old dented tin Oxford math set from his bag. The Oxford set no longer had its utensils but there were broken pencils and used up pens. He lifted the paper on which the pencils rolled around and beneath was a starsh of Uganda shilling notes and coins.
“Do you promise me that you will not go and spend this money?”
“No sir, I gostraight to schoolandpayfees. I comeback and give you receipt. When termend I bringmy reportyousee”
He was given 50,000 shillings. I never saw a boy more grateful.
He was back on his knees;
“Thankyousir, thankyoumadam, Godblessyou, Godwatchoveryou, Godblessyou, thankyouverymuch. I’m goingbringschoolreceipt.
It’s been two weeks now and we haven’t seen him again.
Think about it this way - maybe theres been a hundred reasons why he hasnt been back to present the receipt or his lack of it (probably gave it to another sponsor and didnt think to make copies for his other sponsors !!!), but you hugely blessed someone. Besides, better to feel like you just might have been scammed than to deal with the thought that he just might have been one of those genuine cases and you didnt help him when you really could have !!!! Its a catch 22.
ReplyDeleteI like that approach, thanks Wendal.
ReplyDeleteTruth be told, you will one day meet this same child in a different place, same report same story. Some are scams
ReplyDeleteThe good thing is that you did something to help whether the young boy was a scam or not. You will be blessed. Its just sad that its hard to know who is genuine wand who is not, we help anyway.
ReplyDeleteOr give him the benefit of the doubt...
ReplyDelete