For all who are following our work with Irene, the 15 year-old runner who lives in a White squatter camp near Pretoria, South Africa, here’s the news:

On my last trip I went to a school regional track meet where Irene ran in both the 800m and the 1500m races.  She won Gold in both (see photos).  I also discovered that she runs barefoot, as do most of the children, because they can’t afford shoes.  The shoes we made for Irene were customized since she has no toes.  They were stolen within days by a drug addict in the camp.  He sold them so we can’t get them back even though we know who he is.   So now she runs with no shoes.

I was told that Irene’s time in the 1500m was 4:48.  The world record for 15-year-olds is 4:00.  She is doing very well.

I also found out that she is in a Special Ed school.  I don’t believe this has anything to do with her abilities.  I think that as a result of the trauma in her life, which we are still investigating, she simply cannot cope with regular classes and in South Africa, the solution is to send all these students, regardless of the real issues, to Special Ed schools.  Unfortunately, this turns out to be baby-sitting, not education.  So, one more issue that we must address with Irene.

Please pray for her.  We are doing what we can, thanks to many of you, but the problems are much deeper than we thought.

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