My buddy Simplice

I wanted to note that I think that every female dog in Benin is named Patience. (Minus Brezil—the dog who got her throat slit and lived.) Seriously. I’ve met like 5 of them. But, perhaps it’s just name everyone likes for their dogs in this cartier. Or maybe it’s just a name that Simplice and his friends like.

Speaking of my buddy, Simplice…that boy is probably around 10 years old, maybe 11 or 12 at the most. He does not go to school. I am pretty sure he is already training to be a mechanic. I always see him working on motos under this little shack as I walk on my way to catch a zem to town/school/etc. and I always wave to him and go through the greetings.

It makes me sad to personally know a kid so young who does not/ cannot go to school. And I say personally because one can hear about that kind of stuff all day long. And you can feel bad for like 3 seconds and say, oh that’s sad. It sorta just files away in the back of the brain with all those other things that suck for people in life. But you just kinda go on without ever thinking about it again. But I’d like to think that I will always remember Simplice. I’ll remember how he loves dogs. How he was the one I asked to chercher Marley the night he disappeared. How he babysat Rosie one weekend and lost her the first night (thank God she came back!). How he stopped by for a period of time to “visit” and ask for 100cfa because he was “hungry.” Oh, Simplice, what will become of you?