Final week

Before I get into the CRS as a whole I would like to say a couple of quick words about human trafficking as that was our topic for this past week. You know, I thought I knew about human trafficking, what it is, how bad it is and who it affects but boy was I wrong! I have been quite shocked this week by statistics and personal stories. Just hearing about it was challenging to me but also the feeling of I can’t do anything about it – not because I felt I couldn’t make a difference but because I know I am called to the garibouts of Mali, at least for the next while. I don’t know why but this issue of trafficking hit me harder than a lot of the other issues we have learnt about. Then I realised why ... the majority of the garibouts are trafficked! I had never thought of it that way before but they fit the definition, now I understand why I feel passionate about this issue and I will be working to fight it!

Now for a sum up of the rest of the school ... just to warn you, this might get quite long.

Where to start, where to start??? How do you sum up 3 months of intense learning, fun, relationships and outreach in a few words? I think I will start with what I what I wanted to get out of the Children at Risk School and go from there.

I wanted to get training what would help me set up and run a new ministry for the Garibout boys in Mali, but I didn’t want just any kind of training. I wanted to look at the hard questions, find out why kids end up in terrible situation like the garibouts, what God says about it all and of course how to help them.

I can say confidently that I did learn all that, of course there is always room to learn more and expand my thinking but I definitely got out of the CRS what I needed and wanted. Every single week I thanked God that I did this school before starting a ministry, I saved myself from making so many mistakes that would have taken a long time to repair.

I can say without a doubt that my thinking in terms of children at risk and how to work with them has changed. There are some things where I think it will continue to be a process of change but one of the main things I can share with you is this:

It might just be better for a child to stay with their family even if there are some risks. I know this sounds kind of harsh and even a bit stupid but what I have come to realise is that the family is soooo important for the child (if the child is at serious risk then of course it is better that they are removed from their family). Before I would have wanted to take all suffering children whether that be poverty, abuse, neglect... and put them in a home/orphanage but now I would rather have a focus of working with the family to create a safe place for the children within the family. This may mean a change in your approach and that you spend just as much time working with parents and caregivers as you do with the children themselves.

So what now?

Well, with all this new information and ideas I will be heading back to Mali to start a new work with the garibouts. I used to think I understood the garibout system pretty well but now I realise there is sooo much I don’t know, for example, it was only this week that I realised most of these little boys are victims of human trafficking, they are slaves, street kids and sometimes orphans. Putting these

labels on the boys doesn’t change their situation or who they are but it helps me understand them and better know how to work to help them.

I am looking forward to applying all that I have learnt and to learn much more along the way.