Santino: At-Risk Orphan
Ever wonder what an orphan who has no home and lives in the desert does after school?
Santino is one of the orphans in Sudan who considers himself so blessed because he is able to attend the Make Way Partners/New Life Ministry School. He is also very excited as he watches the dormitories go up every single day, carefully counting the progress that our hardworking construction crew is making day by day and waiting for the day that he won’t have to be out in the bush at night or up in a tree to avoid the wild dogs and hyenas.
He is a quite an athlete and loves to play ‘football’ or as we would say, soccer. He studies hard in school because he dreams of being a medical doctor for his people one day. Right now, he is in class three in school. He thinks he is 14 years old, although he is not sure because there are no records and his parents are not alive to tell him.
Santino is known by all the teachers as one with a good attitude and always working hard to keep the peace among his classmates. In fact, his teachers say he is a natural born Peace Maker.
A few days ago Santino was walking in the bush after school. He was alone and didn’t have anything to do or any particular place to go. He first walked by the dormitory construction site with some friends and prayed with his buddies that their new home would be finished soon. He then wandered off on his own.
Soon he found something that looked interesting to him; a new toy. Being fascinated with balls, he began to toss it into the air and play catch with himself. The object was not a toy; it was a grenade. The grenade exploded and blew off most of his hand.
Others heard the explosion and ran to him. Since our clinic is not yet finished and operational, our teachers rushed him to the nearest clinic available – three hours away.
Santino is still alive but lost much blood in the long journey. He is in critical condition. Because he is an orphan and our teachers had to return to the school the next morning, Santino is alone in the clinic. No one is there to kiss his head or comfort him. Please pray God’s tender mercy comforts this brave young leader and that His healing touch strengthens him.
Once our dormitories are complete, all 400 children will have a safe play area inside the fenced security zone between the girls’ dorm and the school.
Update: As soon as we heard Santino was injured, we called his child sponsor and asked her to begin praying for him. She lives in NC and called her prayer circle and sent out emails. Santino is now back in school and says he is thankful that it was his left hand and not his right. He feels special to know that his ‘mother’ and her friends prayed for him.
Although there is peace in our area now, there are still many active mines, bombs and grenades left in the area from the war. They present a real threat to our children as they have no ‘safe’ zone for play. Once our security fence is up, this will alleviate the problem as they will have a secure place to play!
-Kimberly Smith,
Executive Director
