Isaac comes in...

Isaac, the smiling young six year old boy confidently sporting the sunglasses to the right, is homeless and lives by himself on the streets of Mzuzu, Malawi. For the past 3 weeks he has been invited to have porridge at a school for Street Kids but has refused to enter, mostly seen sucking his thumb. According to the teachers at the school, each afternoon he has come close to the gate but has run away when they approached. We were fortunate enough to be in Mzuzu for a week and one of the teachers from the school attended our sessions. Emmanuelle, a 30 year old Malawian suffering with malaria, came to all the practices and participated as much as he could (between fits of chills and weakness). He learned our games and took on our coaching style of teaching and playing WITH A SMILE. He asked us to do an extra session for his 60 street kids, and we jumped at the chance. We arrived at St. John's school yard and found no indication that grass ever looked at the field let alone lived there. Yet,, through dust and wind, every child smiled, including Isaac. After the session, covered in dust (and me some sweat), we headed over to the house that served the porridge. During the 3km walk, I was scared for the kids crossing the busy streets, until I recalled that they lived on the streets every day. When we finally got to the gate, Isaac stayed behind, thumb in his mouth. Nick, pictured above, has a certain British charm about him, and worked some magic. Isaac entered the complex but remained to the side. When the porridge finally arrived, he hesitated to take some. However, with a little Christian silliness added in with Nick's incredible silliness, Isaac became a new man. In front of the camera I held, Nick and Isaac performed a fashion show, going so far as Isaac asking to borrow Nick's sunglasses. Hearing his laugh, recalling his smile on the pitch, and watching him eat a plate of porridge, I had to wipe some sweat from my eyes. It was sweat, not a tear;)
While we didn't change his life for good, we Coaches Across Continents made him laugh for a day. Boy that felt good. I thank each one of you for the support you gave in getting me over here. The experience will not leave me.

Many, many thanks,
Sweaty eyes Aviza