The Parable of Nirash

My name is Nirash. I am only a child. I am always sad.

We have very little to eat. Sometimes I have to walk to the river with my mother to carry water home for cooking. It is a long walk and the water pots are heavy.

There is always someone in my family who is sick.

I can’t read or write because I have no one to teach me. My mother and father can’t read or write either.

My father works very hard every day. When he comes home, he is so tired that he gets angry easily. He complains about his work in the fields and the way he is treated by his overseers. He is sad because he does not earn enough money to take care of us and to pay something called his debts.

My mother has told me that I may have to go to work soon, perhaps in a brick kiln, to earn enough money to feed us better.

I know some other kids who work in brick kilns. They are very unhappy. They are always too tired to play with me. I hope I don’t have to work in a brick kiln.

There is a pastor man in our village who visits our home from time to time. He knows that I would like to learn to read and write. He has told us about a place called Bridge of Hope on the other side of the village.

The Bridge of Hope has teachers who are kind and loving. All the kids get a hot meal every day. Doctors come to the center to make sure the kids are healthy. Kids who go to Bridge of Hope learn many things, so they do not have to work in brick kilns or in the fields like my father.

When we heard about Bridge of Hope, we were excited. The pastor said my parents don’t even have to pay for me to go. There are people far away who pay for each of the children to go to Bridge of Hope.

I told the pastor that I want to go to Bridge of Hope. He wants me to go too, as soon as someone is willing to sponsor me.