The Blind Beggar: Part VIII

As Amal made the evening meal, she remembered a time when Boulos told a joke.  It was before his accident with the fire.  Her family was playing Hide and Seek when Boulos arrived.  He waited while the seeker sought out the hiders.  When Amal was caught, she trudged toward Boulos kicking rocks and pieces of broken concrete along the way. 

When she neared her friend, Boulos said, “Hey Amal, what time is it when an elephant sits on your fence?”

“I don’t know.”

“Time to get a new fence.”  He put his hand on his stomach and started giggling.  Amal balled up a fist and playfully hit Boulos in the shoulder.  She laughed as she said, “That’s stupid.” 

“Then why are you laughing?”

“I’m laughing at you, not the joke.”

Shortly thereafter, Amal’s brother found the last hider and another game would soon start. 

During the evening meal, Amal shared the joke with her family.  Her husband gave an amused smile.  The oldest two acted indifferent but the eight year old laughed heartily.  He loved animals and had a fondness for elephants.  Amal was certain he would tell the joke to friends at school the next day. 

Daiwik and members of various churches, mosques and charitable organizations met for nearly three hours.  For the bulk of the meeting, the only point agreed upon was something should be done to help Boulos.  The application of such assistance was difficult to define.  The immediate concern was housing.  The people who helped the homeless had no space in their shelters. 

Then the topic came up of what the plan should be once housing was established.  Were they to care for Boulos the rest of his life?  Could he do anything to assist in paying for his own care?  Though no one was sure of his age, the general consensus was that someone may end up caring for Boulos for 30-40 years.  This led to question of his overall health. 

It was one thing to feed and house a blind man.  If he had serious health issues, the bank accounts of everyone who pledged to help could be seriously affected.  What if there were mental health problems?  Many people who lived on the streets had them.  How would this be addressed?  It was one thing for Boulos to have a physical.  Boulos himself may want one.  Can they require him to have a psychiatric exam?  How would he react to such a demand?  Could they force him to submit to physical and psychiatric exams if he didn’t want them?

As the evening progressed, Daiwik was disheartened to feel he may have to renege on his promise Boulos would soon be off the streets.  When it was beginning to appear no clear path could be established to care for Boulos, Daiwik stated his insistence Boulos at least be able to count on regular meals.  He said, “My friends, can we not at least provide the meals for this man every day?  Is it too much for us to remove that stress from his mind?  This can be the first step until we can decide the next step.  Whether we give him homemade meals or buy something from the restaurant, surely we can do this.”

Those in attendance agreed and a plan was made to provide two meals each day for the next 30 days.