JPG: Stories: Photo Essay: Stanley's World

Stanley's World

By Glenn Buzbee

7 Mar 2008

My name is Stanley. This man with me is my new friend. He has come with a group of... I think they are called missionaries. Nice people. They brought us gum to chew. And other small presents. Many of them held our hands; they talked with us and smiled. But then they went away again. They always do that. They leave us. But others will come, with more sweets and gifts. And smiles.

I am an orphan, like so many of Kenya's children. Some are orphaned because of poverty. Others because their parents were killed by all the people fighting. Some parents died from HIV or other sickness. Some children were just abandoned. I was one of them.

They found me at age two, living among a troop of baboons. I had very few human social skills. I ate from the ground and made baboon sounds. I was afraid of other humans. When the people found me, my baboons fought to keep me. But the people won, and they brought me here, to this orphanage in Nakuru, Kenya. It was here they taught me manners and taught me to speak. They taught me to be like other little Kenyan boys. That's how I know I am an orphan. I am six now. But sometimes I still dream of my baboons.

Even so, I like being a little boy. I like playing with the other children. They are orphans too, like me. You may not fully understand this, but I am happy here. It is my home. I live in a beautiful land, among an amazing people.

Please let me show you a small part of my world.