Earlier in the week, one of our stations had asked kids to draw what they wanted to be when they grew. We came to the school during breakfast, today, and helped hang the drawings on the walls in one of the classrooms. One by one, each age group came around the corner, surprised to see all their work on the walls, and wandered through the room looking at all the drawings. All my little dudes grabbed my one by one to show me theirs—Button, Topas, Amos, Brian, Sanya, Jackson, Irene, Lynn, Jocie, Ben and, of course, Ezekiel. His dream was to be a fireman. Almost all of the things the kids wanted to be were very practical. Answers to needs they have in their day to day: a nurse, a doctor, a policeman, in the military. Lots of the drawings depicted someone in danger. They know the danger all to well.

Then we made our way to a closing ceremony in the dining hall. The kids performed lots of songs, dances, poems and prayers for us. When these kids sing and chant in unison it gives you goosebumps. It’s unreal. All through the ceremony, Ezekiel’s eyes would meet with mine and he’d give me his bashful smile. Almost too cool, yet full of love. Afterwards, it was time to say goodbye. Instantly I noticed Ezekiel scoot out of the room and dart off outside. I couldn’t catch up to him. The kids were clambering all over us so I made my rounds through the room. I told Brian how inspiring he is. How gentle and kind. I’m truly lucky to know him. I told Topas that I will be thinking about him every day. I never got a chance to ask Topas where he lives. He is not at the orphanage. Jackson, Ben, Francis and Button are all too little to really understand so I took the opportunity to snuggle their brains out and tell them I’d be back soon. I wasn’t able to find Jocie or Lynn. Broke my heart. Even a few kids I hadn’t gotten to know super well were gracious enough to give us the hugs of a lifetime and tell us we’ll be missed. Sanya found me and said, “Are you looking for Ezekiel?” I was, of course, but I quickly said, “No silly, I’m looking for you!” We said our goodbyes and sat down for a second. A bracelet Amos had made me came apart earlier in the day and Sanya fixed it in about two minutes flat. I gave Irene the biggest hug I could muster and made sure to reassure her how beautiful she is. I also told her I met her brother, Albert. I asked her if he keeps her safe and is good to her. She said, “yes,” with the most enormous smile. On my way outside to look for Ezekiel, I bumped into Amos. I gave him the “keep my watch speech” and reminded him that I’ll be checking up on him. I hope that when he sees the watch, it reminds him of me. And reminds him that he is a good kid. There’s a lot more to him than all the anger he has bottled up. He was pretty cold about the whole thing. Wouldn’t even hug me. I’m looking forward to keeping tabs on that dude.

Sanya led me to Ezekiel on the far side of the schoolyard. He didn’t say much. We roamed the school and found his brother and sister, Francis and Cynthia, and took some photos together. He kept asking me if we could play Angry Birds. Moments like that, my heart can’t do anything but smile—as the sixth-grader in him rises to the surface. I told him we could if we could find a quiet place to talk. It still led to a massive pile up of kids wanting to know what was going on. On our way to sit down I gave Ezekiel a letter I had written the night before. It told him how much I love him. How smart he is. It told him that I will work everyday to find a way to rescue Francis and Cynthia from the slum. He read it, didn’t say a word, and put it in his pocket.

“Did you understand the letter?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any questions?”
“No.”
“I meant every word in there.”
“I know.”

So with that, we played Angry Birds. Ezekiel sat next to me with his head on my shoulder and played the game. Every now and then he’d look back up at me: “Whoa, did you see that? Have you ever done that?” Before I knew it, the team was trying to get my attention. Everyone was already packed up and leaving! Dammit all, I hadn’t really said much of anything to Ezekiel yet. So I sat him up and hugged him. Opened my mouth to talk and it was floodgates. I just cried my eyes out. Trying to get out the words. Trying to tell him I loved him, telling him I’ll be back, telling him how special he is. The kid was dry as a bone. Wouldn’t even look me in the eye at first. Then he put his head on my shoulder and just stared at me. I started to pull away and he wrapped his arms around me in a death grip. The vans were leaving and there were 302 kids running around like madmen. The rest feels like a blur, but I was eventually able to stand up and leave Ezekiel. I wiped my eyes and said one more goodbye. He just smiled. Before I hopped in the van I looked back one more time. He was reading the letter again.

As we pulled away, I looked out the window and there was Ezekiel’s little brother, Francis, shouting my name and waving. I was able to grab onto him for just a second before the van pulled through the gate. I stared him dead in the eyes and shouted silently in my head, “Be safe. Keep Cynthia safe. You two are going to be in the orphanage any day now, I promise.”