Tuesday 23 July 2013

Why Finiyas?

Serge got a call yesterday saying telling us that Finiyas was put in jail.
 
Finiyas? 
He is the last of our former street kids that we would think of to be in jail.
What the heck for?
 
Story was he filled out a form at immigration for a  regional passport and got it filled incorrectly and they arrested him. We now know it wasn't immigration but local leadership that arrested him somehow.
He has three names and last time he used two and this time a different combination, and he got some places mixed up on the form.
 
What I know is this, the forms are complicated at best for anyone to fill out.
 
Finiyas is a guy who has worked hard since 2005 to improve his life. He was the first to get a 'real' job. The first to open a bank account. The first to rent his own home and live on his own. He was the first for many things ... but one thing he did not have was education.
 
I have wrestled for years that he is probably dyslexic and with little to no resource in the country to properly diagnosis him, life moves forward for him as it can. He did decide to go to a 'catch up' school this year in the evening, for which we are helping him to pay for. He is thoroughly enjoying it and seems to be making progress which he is thrilled about.
 
BUT... not enough obviously.
 
My heart breaks.
Last time he applied for this regional passport, someone helped him to fill it out. This time, I am sure he figured that his reading and writing had improved enough to do it on his own. 
Clearly not.
I can't imagine how he's doing... what he's thinking... 
God protect his spirit and his heart.
 
Serge worked the phone most of the day today, along with a  few other people, to try to sort through this mess. We haven't heard that he has been released yet. May it be sooner than later.
 
He was just being proactive in getting a region passport so that he would be ready to travel with his office team when the time came. They had been told they might be traveling to Burundi to see another branch office and he wanted to be ready. 
 
He just wanted to be ready... he was being proactive ... he was doing what he thought he could do.
 
Oh God... give us and the people he works with, wisdom.
 
My heart breaks tonight. The world just isn't fair ...

3 comments:

Davina said...

What news with Finiyas?

Ken said...

Praying Jen....

Laura said...

Please keep us updated on news about Finiyas! Praying for justice and hoping things get sorted out very soon.

It seems so unfair that such a little thing can have such huge consequences!