Today we’re meeting Gift!
He is ten years old.
He’s in the third grade.
Gift lives with his grandparents and cousins
in a small village called Sinonioni in the
Southern region of Zambia.
Gift stays with his grandparents because his
parents couldn’t take care of him.
His day starts very early.
He and his cousin Ephemia start by washing
dishes.
Then gift releases the goats so they can graze
in the fields near the village.
There’s no water in their village, so every
morning Gift and Ephemia walk to the nearest
well to get water.
It’s takes them about an hour to gather
the water and bring it back to the village.
Then it’s time to wash up for school.
You may use a wash cloth and a soap to take
a bath, but Gift and his family don’t have
soap.
So gift uses water and a rough stone to scrub
his skin clean.
Gift’s grandmother makes their breakfast.
Gift and Ephemia get dressed for school and
eat breakfast.
Their grandmother has prepared nshima and
vegetables.
Nshima is ground corn that’s cooked until
it’s thick, kind of like mashed potatoes.
They use their hands and scoop up some nshima
and vegetables together.
The dogs stay close by in hopes of grabbing
a bite.
They go inside their house and gather their
supplies for school.
Gift’s house is very small.
Five people live in this small hut.
Gift and Ephemia walk to school, which is
a mile and a half away.
Most schools in Africa aren’t free.
The parents pay for their kids to go to school.
Gift’s family can’t afford school so he
attends a community school with a few other
kids.
They have no desks and only a few supplies.
The floor is dirt!
Their lessons come from a radio broadcast.
Gift and the other students listen carefully
to the radio for their instructions.
Nearby, there’s another school with classrooms,
desks and teachers.
The kids here have uniforms to wear.
It may seem unfair that Gift and his friends
don’t have what the other kids in town have.
But, when life is unfair…God is good.
Gift is happy to be in school and excited
to be learning.
To help pay for what they do have, Gift’s
school has a garden that provides vegetables
to sell.
Gift and his classmates oversee keeping the
garden cared for and watered.
After school, Gift and Ephemia walk home and
eat a quick snack of corn and sugar.
Then Gift rounds up the goats.
The family walks to a nearby lake where they
have own vegetable garden.
The carry water in buckets from the lake to
water the garden.
Gift sits with his grandmother in the cool
shade of the garden.
You might say that life has been unfair for
Gift.
He doesn’t have his parents around.
He doesn’t have the things other kids have.
But Gift knows that he is loved and that God
cares for him.
In the Bible, book of Nahum, chapter 1, verse
7, says “The Lord is good, a strong refuge
when trouble comes.”
Gift knows that when life is unfair…God
is good!
