His real name is Wilner, but when we took him in, we already had another “Wilner.” He was so small that I called him “Pistache.” (Meaning peanut in Creole.) We found Wilner while we were in the mountains conducting a Mobile Medical Clinic. I had this little, skinny boy sitting on my lap and I began to talk to him. It was like “talking to an adult in the body of a child.” He was withered, thin and boney. He had no hair, and his eyes and fingernails were yellowish, meaning he was anemic. He told me that he had gone to school a little, but the kids beat him up! Then he said, “A child without an education is like a blind man walking in the darkness!” I asked his father, “How old is he?” His father responded, “Fifteen.” Wow! What a malnourished child.

We took Wilner in. He had a tough time in school, failed many times, but kept going back! He always told me, “Mom, one day I want to be a journalist!” Well, Pistache has been working as one of our hired yard workers until he finishes school. In his hands is all his paperwork for “College Journalism!” We’re so proud of Wilner, also known as “Pistache!!”

Sherry