Brooke and I planned on taking Gaspar to visit Zacarius and his mom today but one of the older youth informed me last night that he had seen him on the street yesterday. So instead, Brooke and I went to the city to look for him with the help of Ernesto, one of the Iris youth. We drove up and down the 25th of September stopping at all the spots where street kids hang out and asking groups of boys if they knew Zacarius and had seen him. No luck.
Gaspar had come with us so we went ahead and drove to his mom's house, all the while praying that somehow Zacarius had gone back home. Sadly, he wasn't there. We visited with Gaspar's aunt and his little brother, Dodo, for a while. A few other kids from surrounding houses came out to play with the random white girls too! Gaspar's mom had gone to the market. We waited for her to return for a long time but she never did. A new KFC has opened in Matola, near their house so we took Gaspar, his aunt, and Dodo out for lunch. We bought some take away for them to take back for Gaspar's mom as well.
It was a good visit but I was very sad that Zacarius wasn't there. He apparently ran away on Thursday or Friday. I don't think I'll ever understand what it is about the streets that is so alluring to him. There is a big youth service in the city on Monday nights and Zacarius always comes when he's on the streets because he knows he'll find me there. So tomorrow I'll be looking for him . . . and praying he'll agree to go back home again.
