Title: One Last Hope
Disclaimer: I own Bahari, Kaelyn and Gabrielle. I also own Gabby's school and everyone associated with it.
Dedication: To Brooke Chooke cos she was the one who came up with the idea, to Manda Panda, Blaire Bear and Nutty Natty…you're all my little legends!
Summary: Jo and PJ head to Papa New Guinea to spend some time with PJ's sister Gabrielle who is working at a school for orphaned children. It is here that Jo meets Bahari, a small orphan boy with a big heart….
"Oh this is going to be so great." Jo cried as she and PJ loaded their luggage onto a jeep they had hired. "I am so glad you came up with this idea."
"Actually it was Gabby's idea. She was telling me about what she's done over the past four years and I told her we were thinking of going on a holiday…she suggested we come and see what she's done."
"Well I can't wait to meet her. She sounds like an amazing woman."
"Well she is. She used all her spare money to make this happen and she doesn't even care that she doesn't get anything back from it."
"Wow. It's about time someone did something about those poor children. I've seen those adds on TV…it's horrible the conditions these kids live in."
"Gabby felt the same way. From the moment she started high school this is what she has always wanted to do."
"I haven't even met her yet and I already like her." Jo laughed.
"Here we are." PJ pulled the jeep into the main street of a small village.
"It's so small. There are hardly any buildings here."
"Well this was one of the poorest tows in the district. That's why Gabby chose to set her school up here. She's even teaching the kids for free so that they can afford to get an education. A lot of the families around here have to beg for food from the richer families…Gabby told me that some of the children start work when they are only 8 or 9. Just so they can afford to live."
"Wow. Those poor kids." Jo cried. "Is she the only teacher at the school?"
"No. There are about 10 or 15 other teachers. There has to be for the amount of students who come to her school."
"Sounds like you know a lot about it."
"Well Gabby and I write to each other all the time. She's been keeping me up to date ever since she moved here."
"That's awesome."
"Oh look there she is now." PJ pulled the jeep over and Gabby rushed up to them.
"Patrick!" She cried. PJ had only just climbed out of the jeep when she bombarded him with a hug. "It's so great to see you. I'm glad you made it here okay."
"Hey Gabby…nice to see you too." He smiled and hugged her back.
"And you must be Jo…my brother has told me so much about you."
"Has he now…?" Jo laughed.
"How are you guys…how was your flight?"
"It was alright." PJ replied.
"He wouldn't know…he slept the whole way over." Jo laughed.
"Typical PJ thing to do." Gabby laughed. "Come on inside. Make yourselves at home." Gabby grabbed one of their suitcases and led them through the building and up the stairs to their room.
"This is where you guys will be staying. Sorry it's not much. But it's all we've got."
"It's perfect. So cosy." Jo commented. "Do you mind if I use the bathroom?"
"Sure. You'll be sharing the bathroom with two of the teachers who live here." Gabby explained.
"That's okay. I can't wait to look around. This place looks so great."
"Yeah. I love it here…the kids love it too. Though we've got a shortage of beds this time of year. A lot of the kids sleep in the streets…some often wont make it through the night." Gabby sighed. "But we do the best we can. Anyway. I'll leave you guys too it. You're probably tired form your trip. Maybe later on I'll give you a tour of the place and you can meet some of my favourite students."
"Yeah. That'd be great." Jo replied with a smile.
"Right well goodnight. Have a good sleep and I'll see you in the morning. Breakfast is at eight."
"Great. Night Gab." PJ hugged her then she left them alone.
The next morning Jo awoke with a yawn. She sat up and looked around. The sun was shining through the window onto her face and she welcomed the warm rays. She yawned again and got out of bed. PJ was still sleeping so she got up without disturbing him, got dressed and headed down the stairs to the kitchen.
She found Gabby in the dining room getting kids of all ages ready for breakfast. She could see about 5 or 6 other adults wandering around tending to the children. She smiled and walked up to Gabrielle.
"Morning Jo." Gabrielle smiled. "How did you sleep?"
"Great." Jo replied.
"That's good. Where's PJ?"
"Still asleep." Jo replied. "He'll probably be in bed for a few more hours."
"Yeah. He never was a morning person." Gabrielle laughed.
"Who's this?" Jo refereed to the little girl that Gabrielle was feeding some cereal to.
"This is Malika. She's one of my favourite little girls."
"She's so cute."
"Yeah. Unfortunately her parent didn't think so. They abandoned her when she was just a baby. Left her on my doorstep the poor girl. We took her in and she's been here ever since. She's like a daughter to me. Well all of the kids here are family." Gabby explained. "I love all the kids that come and go. They are all special to me."
"That's so sweet. Do you get a lot of newborns?"
"Well it's mainly kids between 5 and 10 that are in need of help. Sometimes we get a few like Malika here. They are the real special ones." Gabby smiled and fed Malika some more food.
"I bet you meet a lot of different kids everyday?" Jo asked.
"Well we do get a fair few kids in. most of them are from the poorer families around here. The families that cant afford to send their kids to the school further south. That's okay though we take pretty much anyone in." Gabby explained.
"That's so sweet. I don't know how you cope with all these kids."
"Well I'm not the only one here. There are five of us that live here…the others come from villages not far from here to work. We also get a lot of volunteers come through. Many people only stay for about a week or two then go back to their hometown…but sometimes we get people like Marcus"
"I'd love to have a look around…if that's okay."
"Sure. If you like I'll give you the tour."
"I'd love that."
"Great. Well I'm done here now so I'll just change her then I'll show you around."
"Great."
"Okay…so this is the art room…we've got three different teachers who come in on different days. They are all from different backgrounds so the kids get a wide range of cultural aspects for their work." Gabby explained then she led Jo further along the corridor. "This is where we teach the kids how to speak English. This is the most important class of all."
"Why's that?"
"Well there is a high demand of jobs for people who can speak English over here…this isn't exactly a local tourist destination…but the surrounding towns are a hot spot…and they are always looking for people who speak English to work with the tourists." Gabby explained.
"So you teach the kids English and they have a better chance of getting a job?"
"Exactly." Gabby smiled. "Now this…" Gabby led them through to a different room. "This is my favourite room of all. This is the music room."
"Wow. You've got so many different instruments."
"Yeah. You should hear it when all the kids get together at the end of the year and give a big concert to raise money for the school. Last year we raised almost 20 thousand dollars."
"Wow. Just from one concert?"
"Yes." Gabby explained. "And this…is the courtyard. This is where we grow all of our own vegetables."
"Wow there is so many different types."
"Yeah. We don't get many supplies delivered so we have to make do with what we've got. The kids love it. They get to plant their own food and watch it grow."
"Sounds like you've really got the place organised."
"Yeah. This is my life…I love every bit of it."
"Hey who's that?" Jo asked, pointing to a small boy who was sitting by himself in the corner, snuggled up close to a teddy bear.
"That's Bahari. He's one of our special cases. Laura, one of the art teachers, found him curled up next to his dead mothers body. She died while giving birth to his sister…unfortunately his sister was still born."
"Aww the poor kid. He has no family left…he saw his own mother die…"
"Yeah. That's really affected him. He doesn't interact with the other kids at all. And he hasn't said a word since we brought him here. Mandy reckons he's traumatised by his mother's death. He wont let any man near him at all. He barely even lets any of us near him. He screams like hell every time someone picks him up."
Jo looked at the small boy sadly. She had tears in her eyes and she was almost crying.
"The poor kid."
"Yeah. Everyone says that…we've tried so hard to help him but he just doesn't respond to anyone." They slowly walked closer to him.
"Hey there Bahari…this is Joanna…she's a friend of mine." Jo bent down so she was looking in his eyes.
"Hey.' She smiled lightly. Bahari curled up a little tighter then he looked at Jo…he didn't move at all he just sat there staring at her. "What have you got there?" Jo asked, pointing to the bear he was clutching. "Can I see your bear?" Jo asked reaching out her hand.
"Jo…" Gabby started. "I'm not sure this is such a good idea…he's not exactly good when it comes to strangers."
"It's okay little one…I'm not going to hurt you…you can trust me." Bahari blinked a couple of times, his wide brown eyes filled with tears, then suddenly to Jo and Gabby's surprise he stood up and jumped into Jo's arms. He wrapped his small arms around her neck and wouldn't let go.
"Umm…" Jo looked at Gabby.
"Wow…he's never reacted this way to anyone before…" Gabby was stunned.
Okay well I was gunna write more…but I cant be stuffed right now…if you review next chapter you'll find out why he reacted to Jo like that.
Jess