Little Man....

Pre surgery in 2008...
2 years later...

On Wednesday afternoon I picked up Boi, otherwise known as "little man", and brought him up north to my parents house. We had an afternoon of swimming, playing at the park & eating peanut butter gravy & rice. I couldn't help but look at Boi and notice how big he's gotten, how grown up he acted, and how much English he spoke. In fact, only once during our whole 6 hours together did he speak any Bambara to me. I never get over what a walking miracle he is. As we splashed in the water, laughed and tried to "Surf" on the noodles that we had banded together, which I might add was rather unsucessful, I kept thinking about the drastic difference between his life in Danganbougou and Kansas City.

This kid comes from a village that has no swimming pool...let alone running water, no electricity and certainly no theater, target or park. But because a medical team randomly went to Mali and came across his case, his life was changed forever. It is no coincidence that my family became involved in this case as translators. It was no coicidence that we just happened to speak his language....

No, this friendship that has been born is one that is bigger than our human efforts. It's a God thing. Every time I'm with the Boi I come away so grateful to be able to be used in such a way. Who would've thought that an American girl having spent 18 years in Mali, West Africa would befriend an 8 year old boy in 2008, in the heart of the United States, and be a part of changing his life. I know Boi's life was saved by a team of extraordinary doctors and nurses but my life has also been changed!!!