Today, I met a 13-year-old boy. That’s an age when children should be spending their time playing, studying, and enjoying time with their parents. But this boy’s life is very different from that of other children.
This boy has no mother whose voice he can hear every morning when he wakes up, nor a father to turn to for comfort when he’s going through hard times. He has lost both his parents. He is a child who should have been protected by adults, but who now must face a life that is far too difficult for someone his age.
As I watched him, I wondered what might be going on inside his heart. Is there anyone who asks him at night if he slept well? Anyone who tells him that everything will be all right when he’s sad? When he’s hungry, who makes him something to eat? And when he gets sick, who stays by his side?
He may smile in front of others, but no one knows what he’s going through when he’s alone. He may have big dreams, but no one is there to encourage him or lend a helping hand to help him make them come true.
What hurts me the most is remembering that he’s still just a child. He shouldn’t have to spend his childhood struggling to survive or bear the weight of life all by himself. He has the right to receive love, attention, an education, and to hear someone tell him, Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
In this world, some people don’t even know how to spend all the money they have, while, on the other hand, a child doesn’t know where to find what he or she needs today. I’m not saying that everyone has the means to change their life, but if we have the opportunity to help even one child, what’s stopping us?
Today’s encounter left me with a feeling I won’t easily forget. I don’t know what tomorrow holds for this boy, but I hope that one day he’ll be able to have a better life than the one he has today. I’d like to see him smile without having to hide his sadness.
A child who has neither a father nor a mother should not also be deprived of the compassion of others. Sometimes, just one person who decides to reach out to that child can be the reason the child regains the hope they had lost.
image edited with chatgpt
Translated from Somali to English with the help of ChatGPT and DeepL