Cinderfella

So this story is just like Cinderella, just without the glass slipper,
true love, happy ever after, carriage, money...this is the story of
Koustogue, my 14 year old brother. From the first day I moved in I
liked him, he was helpful, kind, laughed a lot, just a really nice kid.
He doesn't look like any of the other kids in my family though. They
all look like their mom, but I just thought he was the lucky one who
turned out looking like the dad. Things have been going quite smoothly,
well, until a few months ago. One night I came home and wanted to take
a shower, and since it was colder then, she had him put water over the
fire for my shower. I am generally a chill person, so I was just laying
on a mat looking at the stars, not in much of a hurry. One thing you
should know about my family here is that they yell. All the time, every
time they talk, when they're angry, when they're sad, when they're
hungry, when they work...they yell all the time. Even at 5 am when I'm
trying to sleep they yell. So with that said, as I was laying on the
mat, and Monique (my mom) was yelling at Koustogue about how my water
wasn't warm yet, and that's when I heard it...she slapped his face, you
know, so that the water would heat up faster. He went under a tree and
started to cry, and I wanted to help, but what do I do? Should I go
over and comfort him in front of everyone, so now they'll make fun of
him and give him more grief? I just sat there, feeling helpless. The
next two days he wasn't around very much, leaving for school early,
coming home late, and not eating with the family. I finally was able to
talk to him, and that's when I heard the whole story, from his point of
view. Years ago his father (my Tchadian dad) was married to three
different women, and had children with each of them, but after becoming
a Christian, he left two of them to live with his first wife, Monique.
Koustogue is the son from the second wife. I don't know the reason, but
when he was five, he came here to Bere to live with my family. He's
been living here for almost ten years! As I continued talking with him,
he told me that Monique hits him more than the other children, and he
works more than the other children, and is just treated differently.
The oldest sister in our family hits him a lot too when he doesn't do
what she says when she says it. He told me how unhappy he was here, and
because of all the hurt he's feeling, he wants to go back to his real
mother...the lady who for some reason or another gave him away years
ago. Ever since that day, my eyes have been opened. I've seen him work
more than the other children, I've seen him go without breakfast, and
I've seen him leave the house crying. This is the Cinderfella story.
He lives with a woman who is not his mother, with siblings that aren't
his real siblings, he works more, gets less, and wants to get out.
Compared to most kids he is well off. He has a roof over his head,
clothes to wear, he's not starving, and he's getting an education, but
despite all of this, he's hurting. I want to help, I want to take him
home with me, but that's not the answer, he would never survive in
America. I don't think that I will ever be able to help take him away
from this physically, but I do know that I can tell him about my Father
who will never do this to him. I tell the kids Bible stories about
Christ's love for all His children, and how He wants all of them to be
saved and come to Him when they're hurting. I may never know the
ending of this story. I know he wont' be saved by some exotic princess,
he may never even leave this village, but he doesn't have to be lost.
He doesn't have to be consumed by the negative things in this life.
Like I said, he's helpful, kind, laughs a lot, just a really nice kid,
and I know that God can reach him and take away his pain. This is the
story of Koustogue, my 14 year old brother.