The invisible children of Africa: left behind by the world but not by God! The story of Razia and Robai.
“Orphans’ cry, cry of kids that are left,
We can hear more often and seek
Why so many trees have broken sticks,
Why so many kids feel sad and weak…”
The pain of rejection, fear of being alone - that's what pursues abandoned children everywhere, following them like a shadow over the rest of their lives. Left behind kids grow up and, in turn, become leaving but not loving fathers and mothers. This vicious cycle is repeated both in European and in African cultures for thousands of years, creating more and more new social malformations.
Behind a pure childlike smile often hides unbearable pain of a kid and endless thirst for love, which they can only dream of. A number of African children left by their parents wander in life hoping to find a family.
Sisters Razia and Robai Such used to be such invisible children of Africa. They came from Shimo la Tewa village and went to our school. When we opened an orphanage, their grandmother brought the sisters to us as orphans, providing evidence of their mother's death. Unfortunately, as we found out later, this information was false, their mother was alive but turned away from them, and their grandmother, wanting to get rid of "unnecessary weight", brought us the death certificate of her second daughter as the mother of Razia and Robai.
When the sisters got to us, they were very vulnerable; a sense of abandonment seemed to overwhelm them. One day, after a Bible lesson at school which was about family, Razia burst into tears. She was sobbing about her mother who left them when they were still babies. We could not get anything to comfort her. Only when Julia embraced her and said: "I am your mother" - she calmed down.
When Robai first came to school she was very reserved, timid, and always sad with no smile on her face. She had hard time with studying, could not really write or read up to the 2nd grade. She considered herself very ugly and when we told her the opposite she did not believe it. It happened so that for this reason she was even trying to shy away from the youth meetings sometimes.
Praise the Lord, now both girls have changed greatly! This year Robai learned to read and was able to rise in the class rating from the 27th place to the 12th. She started to believe that she was pretty. It is so nice to see now how she is looking at herself in the mirror with pleasure choosing clothes to wear. Both girls became more loving, sociable and cheerful African children: they smile and laugh a lot now.
Only God was able to fill the bottomless emptiness of their hearts with love. These invisible children of Africa may became the outcasts of the world but they will never be left by Him. Lord is the true Healer and He needs our hands and hearts. So, let us become those hands that He will hug them with and those hearts that He will love them with!
