More Good Karma

He who saves a single life is considered as if he has saved an entire world. – The Talmud

Six holidaying limeys have been hanging out in U Zpěváčků for the last couple of nights. Yesterday I got into an in-depth conversation with one of them who was called Chris. Chris and his wife Deborah have recently started fostering older teenagers. In the UK, children who are in the care of the state are sent out on their own at the age of 16 unless they are still in full-time education, and most of them are not. It is expected that at the age of 16 they will be able to earn enough money to support themselves. According to Chris, 80% of them end up in prison and a lot of them go into prostitution. The UK lacks enough carers/foster parents to look after these kids. According to Chris, the UK is 10,000 carers short.

Chris and Debs had to undergo a year of training and evaluation before they could take in their first kid. Chris told me about one of their kids, a 16-year old who had been running with a gang in a town near Gatwick. I’ll call him Simon.

Chris and Debs took Simon into their home and gave him love and personal attention. They gave him pocket money with no conditions attached. Chris took Simon mountain-climbing and sailing and bonded with him in a man-to-man way. Chris also taught Simon how to work on cars and then Chris helped Simon find a job so he could start earning his own money while learning to be a proper mechanic. Simon now stands a good chance of making his way in the world and never again having to steal because he is hungry.

“It’s liquid gold turning those assholes around,” Chris told me.

I find it inspiring to meet people that are just good and kind and generous and work to make a difference in the world.