mordikiah

Pictured here is Mordikiah (in back) and two of his brothers. Mordikiah and his siblings, of which, I think there is 6 in total, live down the dirt path from where I was staying/working. His father is gone to another country and mother works extremely hard to provide for her children. Often her work takes her away for weeks at a time letting the children fend for themselves. No supervision, little food if any. Mordikiah, 10 years old, to watch over the younger children. When Roy first arrived in January he hired Mordikiah to help out on his work around "the base." He would arrive every morning at 7:30 work for about 4 hours, eat lunch and then head off to school from 2-6pm.

I was/am utterly humbled by this child. Not so much because of his circumstances but because of how he lived. He would always make sure that myself, Roy, Keese, and Joanne were taken care of. Insisted in getting our food for us while we finished up our work and would save us a chair to sit in. After eating he would clear all the plates and wash them. If you tried to interrupt him, he would wave his finger, shake his head no and push back into your chair. A ten year old child.

Before starting to work for Roy he had no shoes, and after a few weeks he had saved enough to buy himself a new pair of sandals. He has two outfits and one is the school uniform he must wear for school. With a smile on his face this child was more servant hearted than anyone I have ever met. One night Matisse (a man in the camp) needed money to get to the next village over to visit his dad who was dying. He came to us to ask if we could help. Mordikiah was there and overhead. Later that evening Mordikiah got paid for the last couple days of work (600 fc or $1.20) and I watched him walk straight over to Matisse. With a smile and utter confidence he handed, what was most likely all the money he had over to Matisse.