We first met Pistache (Wilner), when we were doing a Mobile Clinic. His father had brought him. Pistache was so small and “boney,” I had to pick him up and sit him on my lap. I asked his father, “How old is Pistache?” I thought that maybe he was six or seven. His poor father looked down at Pistache and said, “He is 15.” I shook my head no… but yes, this little boney boy, with no hair, a swollen face, stomach, and feet, was 15!

I went into shock because I had never seen a child that old, that looked so young. I had asked Pistache if he had ever been to school, and he said, “I went to first grade but the kids made fun of me. My father had no money to pay for school.” I asked him, “Why do you want to go to school?” Pistache replied, “A man without an education is like a blind man, walking into the darkness.” We brought Pistache back. It took lots of doctor’s appointments to bring him back to good health. But, last year, Pistache graduated from 13 years of high school and is in his first year of college to become a news reporter!! We pray that he will reach his dream.

Sherry