All Anak

Sabah: Children of the Wind

He was newly-washed and freshly-dressed when we met him. His clothes -- clean, and not ill-fitting. Which wasn't usual by "street" standards.

Smooth-faced but bleary-eyed, he was awkward too. Like any young teen might be. But there was a weariness about him that belied his 14 years.

He kept his head down and was unable to look us in the face.

"It's early" – we were told – "he won't be too-far-gone yet". What do you mean? I asked the older man-about-town who was serving us our guide: "High. He won't be so high yet… you may still be able to get some coherent answers out of him…"

But we didn't. The young boy was, well, at least not completely incomprehensible. His answers were short: yes, no, I don't know. It wasn't clear it he was reticent because of shyness… or shame. Even his being inarticulate didn't hide the fact that he seemed deeply ashamed of who he was. Almost like he wasn't sure he should be occupying any physical space in the world at all.