A Goalie in Search of a Pen Pal

Yesterday, I was driving with one of the camp managers for ARC and, as usual, all the kids were yelling “muzungu! muzungu!” I was laughing and repeating the phrase, and the camp manager turned to me and said “yes it is this way for white people here, but isn’t it that way for black people in the US?” I laughed and told her “No not really, not really at all.” I tried to explain that it is not really appropriate or acceptable in the US, but it was too hard to do in French. She’ll have to find out for herself if she ever visits.

Anyway, I am still a muzungu to most of the kids in the camp, and to some of the adults. But having been here for almost a month, some of the kids have started to remember me. When I drive in, it usually sounds like “muzungu! muzungu! muzungu! Nicola! muzungu!” It’s nice that some are starting to remember me, even if it is only as the guy who gave them a new pen or an empty water bottle last week (they go crazy for both of those things).

But two days ago, one boy named Sammuel, about 8 or 9 years old, called to me from across the medical center in Nyabiheke. He chased me down, and when he caught up, he said “Bonjour Nicola.” He gave me a letter (written in French) and just stood there to see what I would do. I put it in my pocket and told him that I would read it later, in private. In the car on the way back from camp, I read it. Here is what it said:

“Hello – Greetings and I hope you are doing well.

I am a 3^rd year student at primary school in the camp, and I like to play soccer, and I am the goalie for my team at school. I would like for you to find a kid in the US so that we can correspond with each other (read – be pen pals).
I would like to ask you for a ball that can help me improve my game or something else to help me. Thank you.

Your friend,
Sammuel”

During lunch I could not stop thinking about this kid. And when we drove out of the dirt driveway from the house, he was standing at the end of the path, having walked probably 4-5km from camp. He was waiting for me to see if I had read his letter. I asked the driver to stop the car; I got out, and told him that I was going to find him a friend, and that maybe I could get him some goalie gloves for soccer. I could tell that he was happy that I had even read his letter.

To make the story even more heart wrenching, I ran into Sammuel again the next day. We started talking, and he eventually told me that his parents have passed away, and that he now lives with his grandfather. Sammuel said that if it is possible, he would also like a new shirt (the t-shirt he was wearing had a rip in it, and was covered in dirt). He forgot to include that in his letter. Later that day, I ran into his teacher, and he lamented that Sammuel does indeed live with his grandfather because his parents are dead.

So, I thought that there must be someone reading this entry that knows an 8-10 year old who would like to have a pen pal in Rwanda. In the meantime, as you know, he could also use a pair of goalie gloves and a new shirt. These things are hard because there are so many kids who need so many things, some of them as basic as school fees or their first pair of sneakers. But in this case, I think you’ll agree that this boy has an especially difficult situation as an orphan. I think there are some things we can do for him before my mom reads this and decides to adopt him.

If you are at all interested in the pen pal situation, please email me and we can work something out (nicholas.rizzo@gmail.com). And if you would like to send the goalie gloves or shirt, you could always call my mom (Mary) or dad (Mike) at home (781-582-2508) and they can give you instructions, or they could just put it in the next package they are going to send me. Either way, this kid could really use someone’s help.

In other news, I have taken a lot of pictures. Rwanda is a beautiful country, and very different from most images we have of Africa. It is mountainous and green all over. I just have to get back to Kigali this week to get my cable so I can put the pictures online. I promise they are coming soon. Thanks to everyone for reading – I’ll be back sometime late next week.