Thursday Tarrin spent time with her Kenyan “younger brother” Tati (and just like her American younger brothers, Tati has surpassed her in height!)
Tati came to Nice View while we were there on Thursday and spent the afternoon with us, then when it was time to go Tarrin asked if Tati could come home with us so she could hang out a bit more. She warmed up a couple of chapatti with butter and sugar, soda and taught Tati how to play Blitz (card game). They talked about school, what he wanted to do in life, corruption at his school, favorite foods and simply hung out.
Tati’s background didn’t matter to Tarrin, he was simply a neat kid. However his background bears telling, he’s been through a lot. We met Tati back in 2008 when he was 13 years old, living on his own while his mom worked in a different village and could only visit him once or twice a week. When she did visit she tried to give him enough money for the week for food. When we met him he had no money and mom wasn’t coming for a couple of days. He lived in a latrine converted to a room with no security, no electricity, no water. Tati had to prepare his own meals, wash his own clothes, motivate himself to do his homework and one time while he was cooking he caught his only clothes on fire. That’s when we were introduced to Tati and we talked with Gideon at Nice View to see if he could board at the school. He became an excellent student there and a mentor to the other kids (he still mentors younger students at his current high school).
He is competed in a math competition this past weekend and Tarrin is hoping when he returns he’ll be able to spend Monday with her again before heading back to school on Tuesday…I’m sure Tati will not decline that invitation! You could see the happiness on his face when we dropped him off in the evening and what a blessing it was to see them interact together.