Red Snowsuit Boy

Walking home from the market, I spotted his bumbling approach towards me out of the corner of my eye and stopped dead in my tracks. About 50 feet away, a child no older than 5 was in a dead sprint towards me with arms outstretched. He was wearing a bright red full-length snowsuit with the hood on, for reasons I’ll never understand. The smile on his face was electric and I lowered myself to my knees and readied myself for his embrace by extending my own arms. As he closed in on me, with his short legs waddling as fast as he could manage, he tripped over a large stone and face-planted into the dirt. Time literally stopped for an instant as onlookers awaited his reaction. After about 3 seconds, an impatient boy (who had been funnelling fresh milk into canisters to be sold) of about 7 picked up Red Snowsuit Boy by his left arm and I quickly approached to fully get him on his feet. As he looked up and saw me, he broke into a massive grin as he realized he would be able to achieve his original goal. He puts his arms around me and greeted me “Hello”. I smiled at him and said hello and asked him if he was ok. He simply hugged me tighter.

Given the nature of the children here as well as the amount of time we’ll be at the school, I’m setting the over/under of the # of hugs I’ll be participating in at around 50,000 (the conservative estimate). However the one from Red Snowsuit Boy is one that I never want to forget.

- David