Peter's Story

In August 2007, I took the trip of a life time to Rwanda... a country famous for the horrific genocide that took place there in 1994. There are so many stories that I could tell of that trip. (Most of them can be found on my blog).  However, there's one story in particular that I want to share with you. Peter's Story. I don't know if Peter is dead or alive, in school or sniffing gas out of a plastic bag.

But Peter is the reason I am running this race.

One night in Rwanda, we went out for dinner and ran into some young street children. A common occurance. Peter was only seven or eight and his brother couldn’t have been that much older. We asked where their parents were and the only reply we got was their eyes glazing over in both fear and sadness. They needed food. All of Rwanda's many street children needed food, but these two were right in front of us.

They weren’t allowed in the restaurant, so we ordered them a pizza. We intended to bring it out to them ourselves and chat a while more, but the waitress misunderstood and gave it to them. We never saw Peter or his brother again.

When we exited the restaurant, we noticed sidewalk chalk drawings where the boys had been waiting. Rainbows. Stick-people. As we examined their artwork, it began to sink in with me that these were just children. I think we often (though no one wants to admit it) have different definitions for "street kids", "poor kids", and "normal kids".

Peter was just a kid. A kid with no food, no parents, no home. We can't do anything for Peter now, but we can change the lives of 21 children who are half a step away from being in his place. Please click here to sponsor a child today.
 

Amanda Berry, Organizer for 21K for 21Kids