Bikes and Donkeys

A few years back, sometime around 2006 to be exact, we had the privilege of hosting some little girls in our home on a regular basis so they could study in town every so many times per month.  Those little girls lived with their family on the island camp.  The family were friends who had moved from Fortaleza to help us in our new camp work.  They were faithful members of the church we had helped in JoaoXXIII.  The church there sent them out as lay missionaries to come and help us in Bahia.

There were three little girls including the one sitting beside William in the picture above.  Since homeschooling is technically not allowed in Brazil and these girls needed to study and there was no school on the island - we worked out a deal with the local school and the secretary of education of our little town to have the girls assigned to their proper grade and classroom at a school in town but only come in to go to class in person so many times a month.  The rest of the month they would work on their lessons and bring in work to be corrected when they came in.

On afternoon when the whole family was in town for a few days, I heard some noises in the front yard.  We were all resting a little after lunch.  The kids were playing some games in the living room.  I think I was washing dishes.  The men folk were out and about.  It was my three boys and the three little girls and their mother in the house.  I came out of the kitchen to see three boys taking three of our bikes out of the yard and down the sidewalk!

I yelled, "PARE!"  But they kept on going and sped it up a bit.  I ran back in the house and shouted for everyone to come out and help and called my faithful black dog, Blackie to my side.  I put a rope around Blackie's neck and opened the gate.  I started running after the boys with the bikes shouting for them to stop or I'd let my dog loose to tear them up.

Meanwhile, I noticed that the boys all were pulling along donkeys on ropes.  When they finally decided to drop the bikes out of fear of the dog, they dropped the cords of the donkeys, too, and took off into the "mato."  By the time I caught up to where they had dropped the bikes, the others from the house came a-running.  I said, "Catch all the donkeys!"  We took the bikes and the donkeys back to the house.

"Now what?"  asked my Brazilian guest.  I said, "Now, we keep the donkeys and see if the boys come back for them.  Then I'm going to say, No way.  Bring your mother or father for me to meet and then you can have your donkey back."  That way I could tell the parents personally why I had their sons' donkeys - because they had been trying to steal!

The next day one of the boys showed up and asked if he could have the donkeys back.  He made up a sad story about not really being with the others and needing the animals.  I said, Fine - come back with a parent and I will give them back.  Meanwhile the donkeys were very happy eating our green grass and drinking fresh water.  That afternoon the same boy came back with an older brother.  I told the brother why I had the donkeys and asked why a parent did not come.  He said that their parents both worked in the big city and couldn't come but that the boy had already confessed about what had happened.  Alright, so off they went with one of the donkeys.

Now there were two more and it had been three days?  Finally another boy showed up with his father.  The father apologized and said thank you for making his son deal with the consequences of a bad action.  He seemed genuinely grateful and off they went with one more donkey.

But we still had one donkey left.  No one seemed to know whose donkey it was and no one came to get it.  After a week, Uncle Byron said to let it go and it would find its own way home.  Donkeys here in town wander for food and frequently just "go home" at night.  So after a week, I opened the gate and let the last donkey free.

The lesson learned here is be careful if you try to steal things from the American's house - they might sic the dogs on you or steal your donkeys in return...

and if you take a donkey, you might have to feed it for a week - so be prepared.

I still can't believe this little thief allowed me to take his picture that day...?