Shandrack & Espware

Today I was in for a day of fun with brothers Shandrack and Espware. Shandrack (11) is in 4^th grade, and his brother Espware (12) is in 5^th grade; both boys are very small for their age, but their smiles big and their hearts huge. I have been trying for literally over a month how to tell you about these 2 guys (along with so many others). I really have a special place for them in my heart and want to share a little bit of their story with you.

The boys come from a family of 5 kids, with 3 older sisters. The whole family moved from the Congo in 2001 but their parents were split up at the time of the move and their mother only recently moved here to Uganda. She is very poor and quite frankly unable to take care of any of the kids. Although the boys usually live with their father, it is not a stable place by any means. He himself is not very able (or willing, it seems) to take care of these boys. He is re-married to a woman who I have never met, but of whom I’ve heard bad stories. Shandrack and Espware were chased out of their fathers home last week, which is seemingly a more usual occurrence than I originally thought, so they are staying with their mother right now. Her place is smaller than most college dorms rooms, only as wide as their full size bed is long. The bed takes up half the space and 2 other arms chairs fill most of the remaining area. The mother, oldest sister and 1-year old niece share the bed while Shandrack, Espware and their sister Brandine sleep on the floor.

I don’t mean for their story to seem hopeless or overly depressing, but it’s their tough reality. Looking at the boys, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell much about their home life, though. Shandrack has THE most hysterical laugh I’ve ever heard and fortunately is always laughing. His voice, I can’t even describe. It hasn’t quite turned the maturity corner yet but just makes everything he says so much better. I love this child so much; he can put a smile on my face at any second. Seeing his dimply smile alone makes this work worth it. And Espware is such an incredible big brother, he’s taken on somewhat of a father figure for his brother but still really loves to be a kid. He’s a huge goofball and loves to climb…anything. One minute we are haning out, the next minute he’s in the mango tree, throwing down fruits to us. He’s impressive on the football field, especially for his size and can really hold his own. I love watching him when he’s with the other kids; he has an intelligence about him which I know will take him far. Both boys are very creative and love to draw. We make a weekly habit of going through their sketchbooks together; I think they’re both going to need another soon!!

Not just because of their size, but for other reasons kids pick on other kids, these boys get their fair share of jokes from the others. Their shoes are literally worn through to the ground and their school uniforms are faded. Well not next school year – it was time for some new threads & shoes for my buds! They graciously accepted my request a couple weeks ago and we had been counting down the days!

When I got to the boys mother’s, they were outside drawing. They looked so cute in their outfits, too, both dressed up very handsome. Shandrack has this suit vest that he always wears and, at first, he wouldn’t even take it off-just added another vest on top, this one fleece. Eventually (unfortunately!) he changed into a shirt and we left. Espware had on his jeans for church and was so psyched to show me each hidden pocket and zipper.

Once we got into town, we found ourselves back at the dreaded/crazy/infamous Owino market (see birthday post if you're lost). This time though, we didn’t come in contact with the smells! The vendors were still hustling, still throwing things in our face, still grabbing this & that, trying to get us to purchase their whatever. Eventually, the boys settled on some “strong” (their only request) shoes for school, and then each found some white sneakers for every day. They also got some new shirts, shorts and socks. But I have to explain these since I can’t post pictures yet: Shandrack got pink socks with panda faces (amazing) and swimming trunks – “Look, I don’t have to wear underpants!!!! he screamed, mid-market (even more amazing). They also got matching shirts which normally I think is too cheesy for kids of the same family, but these boys are too cute for me to even care.

We went back to their mothers and after a short fashion show, played cards for hours and got ice cream (ok, not me but it looked good!). New uniforms are being made right now, too! I will surely request that awkward first-day-of-school pic we all had to take but I think these boys will be into it though, silly faces and all.