Leo

I wrote about Leo sometime ago, in my former blog home and people were touched by his story so here’s the article I posted, in the hope to remind us how fortunate many of us still are.

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Dec. 23, 2006

LEO

Leo is one of the boys in my Sunday school class who lives in the cemetery. His family makes a living collecting garbage and selling whatever else is recyclable to a junk shop. Every night, from 7 to 10, Leo (11) and his brother Josemar (12) walks a few kilometers back and forth to collect garbage for a few bucks.

The boy, at his age is only a few feet tall and about the size of a seven-year old. He had never been to the mall till I took him with us last Thursday. When we picked him up from a church mate’s house, his smile was from ear to ear and his eyes were wide with excitement.

His head veered from left to right, to the ceiling, to the tiled floor once we stepped inside the mall, feasting, interrogating and savoring everything in sight. We bought him a new shirt and he got to play a few games at the video arcade (his first too) and since he has never been to the zoo either, we took him to the pet shop afterwards (And I got to see turtles – lol!). He ate so little when we had lunch. Not because he was shy but because he is used to so little. He has 7 other siblings he has to share meal with and since collecting garbage isn’t a profitable business here, they have to divide however little they have.

This time with him made me think of the things I take for granted in my life. Often thinking how little I have and yet this boy almost has nothing. But I never see him sulk in class except when ill or sleepy because he had to stay up late the previous night, garbage hunting.

He, along with the other poor children in my class, makes the difficulties of my life seem trivial, my needs, not necessities, and my heartaches, inconsequential compared to theirs. More than just writing about them, I wish I could do more.

I enjoyed the time with Leo. He made my day.

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Update on Leo: He is almost 13 now in the size of an 8 year old boy. His family still collects junk but I don’t know if he still scouts for them himself. I know one thing; he has snack money now when he goes to school. He’s one of our scholars.