Here is a teaser from Jonni’s September newsletter. To read the whole letter, please click here.
September - right in the middle of the year, is really a time of beginnings. Summer slips away as a new season enters. School starts up again with all kinds of excitement and challenges. Here in the Miriam Home it is a time for change too. The weather is starting to warm up (it’s sad to say but I will probably be complaining about the heat in no time), the children are able to run and play almost to their hearts content (they have school too) because the rains have passed, and we have some new friends in the house!
Samuel has actually been with us for several weeks, but it is the first chance I have had to introduce him. This precious young man is eight years old and has won the hearts of everyone in the house. He is a typical little boy; he chases the older girls in the house with worms, loves to tell riddles (most of which make no sense to an adult gringa) and gives and receives hugs and cuddles from his “aunties” all day. Visiting with Samuel it is hard to imagine why he is in The Miriam Home. I would love to tell you that our little boy is here because of a temporary situation in his family, but the reality is much sadder. Samuel is the oldest of three children, and the “dad” in the family today is not the father of any of the children. Samuel’s mother loves her children but has little control of her own life. She recently found out that she is 
HIV+ (praise the Lord, none of her children are). She has moved frequently and always seems to be on the edge of falling apart. In an attempt to provide an opportunity for her son, Samuel’s mother sent him to live with her sister so he could go to school. It sounded good at the time, but during a period of six months the child was abused twice; once at the school he was going to, once by a neighbor of the aunt. The juvenile court is investigating the case. For something like this to happen once is awful, for it to happen twice in a short amount of time requires serious questions.
In the mean time Samuel is in a safe place where he knows he can sleep in peace and play without worrying about who is watching him!
