Learning is difficult for the boy. He repeated the first grade two times. He told Papa Butch: “Papa, I learn the alphabet but quickly I forget
them”. He looked bothered by it for a second, and quickly he ran away and happily rolled on the ground.
The child’s difficulty is understandable. He was from a large family, where food was divided among a dozen children, he, the 9 th child. Back
home food was not enough for all, and sometimes the children could not eat regularly on time. The family environment was not very happy and with a lot of problems before. That was the main reason for the child’s rescue.
Niño and his siblings visited their family and they stayed there for a couple of days. It was Niño’s first visit after the separation. He was very excited and counted the number of sleeping nights until the “vacation” day. His older brother made lines on the paper and Niño had to strike one each night, and upon the last line, he said, “Yehey, it is already my last night”.
After the vacation, the mother brought the children back to Batang Pinangga, and said, “If this boy (referring to Niño) stays a lot longer I will die”. We know she was just saying her difficulty in caring for this super active boy. Niño laughed and ran quickly to the playground, rolling and tumbling like missing out on the fun for a long time. With Niño, there is always something to do. One day our social worker, Mama
Bing, saw Niño running in the rain, or more like swimming in the mud. She quickly went to him, saying to go indoors else he gets cold. Our boy did not hear: “Oh my, Niño, look at you…”, and Niño asked her, “What’s with me, Mama?” For this boy, when it comes to having fun, the sky is the limit.
