“A man approached us. My Shoeshine Boy flinched. I saw money change hands. ‘Why did you do that?’ I asked. ‘For protection.’ His face crumpled. ‘He is with me,’ I boomed. Then Mama showed up at my door. ‘Even if it is only for a few months. Show him how to change his life.’ I felt her words like a slap in the face.”
‘You can offer him a better life than I can. Please. Take him,’ she begged. How can I fall in love with a child and then leave him behind?’: Woman takes in Haitian shoeshine boy, ‘I didn’t birth him, but he is mine’
‘Four years ago, he had 35 children in his care. Two weeks ago, he had 58. Today he has 62. Sixty-two children to feed, clothe, protect and most of all, love.’
“One of the most recent children almost lost an eye when his abusive stepmother bit him. Now he is recovering both physically and mentally.”
