Ablo is O.K.

So, this is Ablo. He is the cutest kid to ever visit our training center. He is pictured here doing what he does best when he is not filling everyone's water bottles, washing his hands. So he has had a bit of a mishap. We returned to site the day after he and his mom. Before we got back he managed to sit down on a pot of sauce over an open fire and burned the hell out of his ass. One would think that this would mean he was lying around, crying a lot and being waited on hand and foot, having ice cream brought to him on the hour like King Midas and in the states one would be correct. This, however, is Mali. There neither any ice cream nor is there any compassion for pain to go around. He just limps around and asks where all the friends he made at Tubaniso are. "Where's Abdullaye? Where's Kadja? Where's Oumar? Where's Nana? Where's Aminata? Where's Kadi?" You get the picture. He has the incredible memory skills of a Malian child and names off everyone, or at least we think he does but since we can't remember everyone's Malian names, not having the memories or Malian children, we are not sure. His smile is, of course, just as big as always even when hauling his pants down around his ankles and sticking his butt out to show you his burns. Nothing phases this kid!