Don't Miss the Bus

Meet our new friend, Khan

Khan

Linda & Khan at Rainbow Beach

     We will always have a heart for youth and there always seem to be a couple of local youth hanging around at Camp Symonette. Khan is in 10th grade and after school he walks from James Cistern, back the long lane to see what's going on at the camp. Sometimes, he's still wearing his school uniform when he arrives. 

     Khan seems to be the kind of kid hungry for knowledge and enjoys learning from whomever is volunteering at the camp. I've seen him sit quietly listening to the conversation in the breezeway among the volunteers. Sometimes he'll ask a question about what life is like in the U.S. and the volunteers are happy to share. They'll ask him too questions about life on Eleuthera. 

     For a youth, he doesn't seem to mind hanging out with the adults. We did have four kids on the team from Georgia who came along to volunteer with their families. Khan would just as easily be playing basketball at the back of the camp with them too. Really, he's just an all around personable young man, He's making new friends where ever he goes. 

     Khan did arrive one day, not in his uniform - and during school hours. It turns out, Khan had missed the bus the day before and it was the third day he was late for school. When that happens - it's an automatic out of school suspension for three days. 

     Missing the bus is a big deal. Most of the kids do not have another option to get to school on time. The junior high and high school youth have a long bus ride to another settlement for school. It's a 30 minute ride without stopping to pick up other students. School starts at 9:00 and Khan needs to catch the bus at 7:00. 

     On the island it is typical and considered safe to help out a person waiting at the side of the road for a ride (yes, pick up what we would call a 'hitch hiker"). Drivers are highly discouraged from picking up by school kids in uniform. The folks of the island know, if there is someone in a uniform waiting for a ride - they must have missed the bus. They also know youth receiving rides become vulnerable targets for people with bad intentions. The community does not want to encourage this so no one supports offering school kids a ride. 

     Gas for the ride to school on the bus is provided by the government so families want to take full advantage when the price is over $5 a gallon. That 30 minute drive one way makes for an hour round trip. Working parents don't have time to go out of their way to take a youth who is late to school or they won't be working for long. That of course assumes that the family has a car and money for gas to tackle such an errand.

     Needless to say, Khan being at camp was welcome because it gave him a great place to hang out and stay out of more trouble. There is a group of young men (and some not so young) who have found a place to hang out down by the dock at JC. They don't seem to be very motivated to be earning a living. It's a small town. I'm sure everyone knows these young men by name and a story of why they are hanging out there. It would be easy for a kid like Khan to head down to the dock instead to become a part of that crowd. 

     The Ministry of BMH is about community and it takes a community to support youth like Khan. We didn't let Khan down. We welcomed him back to the camp and put him to work helping out around the grounds. Continually we reminded him how much easier it would be to be in school then working in the sun. We joked around about his being late a lot and also let him know, if we didn't care, we wouldn't be picking on him. Khan smiled. He worked at the camp on Thursday and we invited him to come with us for the "Excursion Day" around the island. We ribbed him more about getting to bed on time so he didn't miss the bus again. Friday, our bus was leaving at 9:00 and he needed to be there on time.
     Khan made it and we had a fun day with the entire group for our last day together.
     David and I looking forward to getting to know the community and get to know more about how BMH is touching lives there. We hope to see Khan again - just after school.