When she introduced herself for the first time, both of us had the same image of a teenage witch from the comics of our childhood. Besides, it is not a common name here in Brazil. She is the first one in the streets. Consequently, we never forgot her name even though she disappeared soon after our first meeting which was a few years ago. Then just like magic, she reappeared again last year. It was during the worst period of the Pandemic when food was scarce and the death toll was high. She ran up to me with her childlike smile and before she could say anything, I blurted out her name, “Sabrina!” She was amazed that I remembered. It sealed our connection with her. Of course I never told her the only reason why I recalled her name. She doesn’t need to know this. Nevertheless, useless knowledge paid off this time.

She is one of the many girls who have started drawing close to us. This is something new. Usually we have more boys in our circle of friendship. Now, we have a growing number of girls who interact with us. Initially they were apprehensive. It is harder for them to believe that someone might want to show kindness to them without any ulterior motives. Regrettably, they have ample reasons for thinking this way. Now, they are letting their guard down and are slowly approaching us.

Maybe it is because we have been here for a long time. In fact, among all the social workers and church people who worked with the homeless youth, we are the only ones who remained. We are also much older now than when we started and hopefully a little wiser. Some of these girls were preteens then and now they are in their early twenties. The same girls who used to snub us and sometimes were even hostile towards us are now counted among our favorites. They just needed time. We knew this but frankly speaking, I never expected that it would take so long. It did and we are glad that we persevered. It is worth it.

Getting back to Sabrina, she does not always sleep in the streets. She usually spends few months sleeping in the streets and then she disappears. She developed a pattern. On the first few days, she is usually full of energy and happy. Most likely she is relieved to have escaped her living conditions. Something she recently revealed to us however, only in pieces. It is rare for someone to tell you their whole life story in one sitting. Most of our children share their stories in small doses. For some reason, she was rejected by her family and was forced to lived an older man. She was quick to follow with the fact that he was gay. She did not want us to conjure up unnecessary images. Unfortunately, her stay with him created other problems which brought her back to the streets.

As I was saying, she is always happy the first few days in the streets and then she gradually slips into a melancholic mood and then she isolates herself before leaving the streets. This is the cycle I observed so far. I mentioned it to her and she was surprised. She said, “Uncle Stephen knows me very well.” In one of her low emotional states, I saw her taking out a piece of paper and starting to draw. She looked peaceful and happy when she did it. We decided to surprise her with a gift of a coloring book which we did but we forgot the coloring pencils. The the next day, she purposely went to one of the centers where the teens can take showers and found some color pencils. She colored a page for us to see. Eventually, we bought her case of color pencils and a sharpener. She was so happy and hugged us tightly. From then onwards, we were always greeted with hugs. She finished her book real fast and then unfortunately someone stole it. Usually it is due to jealousy more than anything else. It really upset her but we bought another set of books and new case of color pencils. When she received them this time with big smile on her face and said, “Meus eternos amores!” It is hard to translate or perhaps it sounds much more meaningful and beautiful in her native language. She means to say we are her eternal beloveds. It was a great gift to receive from a girl who has much to give but has always been rejected.