The morning sun shone fairly bright with fluffy clouds laying scattered in the blue sky. Beneath it the Kibra slum laid lonely, open and scattered in the open world of the country’s capital, as if it were a detached segment of life; utterly detached from life.

Just like any other slum on the continent, Kibra was hard to live in, with disheveled and distraught figures fettered by poverty and toil moving about doing their businesses. But even in the hard life, a force of change came reckoning in the slum, raising hopes that were buried in their sepulchers.

The force was a young man, originally not from the place, until his family was forced to move into the slum due to the nature of life that reveled in unwonted contrasts whenever it pleased and in whomever it wished upon. No one could ever be immune to what life chose in the haunts of men. Even those with immeasurable wealth and who lived in harmony and peace could fall in the cruel hands of life. Its certainty made men give a phrase to it- life will break you, and nobody can protect you from that.

And so the man came, as a young youth when his family moved to the slum, and he immediately started attracting attention. In only three years’ time, he was changing lives and shaping the destinies of his fellow youths with the current of his ideas, which ever flowed full and strong with a realm of unimaginable possibilities to the youths. Everything came to be achievable and manageable to them as they soldiered on bravely in the condition they were in. They were never afraid to dream, unlike in the past times. Dream of anything they wanted in their lives. How could they not with the Great One’s influence on them? Even toddlers came to have their own share of dreams while playing with their toy cars. One day they would sit in the car and drive it with their legs, not their hands.

And so was the change of tide in the slum of Kibra.

Lei slowly opened the house door after confirming it was unlocked and walked inside the house. He looked around the living room but saw no one.

His family house in the midst of the slum was simple and plain, just like the many houses in the area. The living room, with three wooden and cotton wool finishing sofa sets, a table and three stools, was clean, organized and aerated. There was no much, but it was manageably satisfying.

He walked to one of the sofa sets, which was located near the door, and took a rest. But before he took another breath, the door was stormed open without any warning and Minah Noorhman, the eleven years old youngest Noorhman, worriedly walked in the house. Her looks alone could tell something was wrong, and badly.

"What the hell...!" Lei's eyes stared at the sister unseeingly, startled by the forceful breach of the door.

"Lei, I saw you come in!" Minah said breathlessly and quickly grabbed the brother's hand from the sofa, "Come quick!"

Completely stunned, Lei followed the sister's lead to the possible matter of contention.

They got outside the house and started walking towards a neighbor's house, Minah stiffly leading the way without yet a word.

"Uh, Minah..." Consternation overcame Lei, "Maybe you should at least tell me something!"

"Alex is losing it, Lei! He is completely going bananas and nuts!" Minah looked deranged, "I think he might do something crazy or dangerous!"

Halfway to the neighbor's house, Lei started hearing distant yells that seemed to be coming from the possible Alex.

They got to Alex's yells and Lei saw him holding a boy the age of Minah in his left hand and equipped with a kitchen knife in the right hand, close enough to the poor boy's neck. The boy looked shell-shocked; his eyes already welled up with misty tears.

A few paces away from the two stood Alex's sister, who was also the age mate of Minah and the boy. She looked to be frantically conveying to her brother to stop the madness he was doing but to no avail.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, man!" Lei stepped forward towards him, "That knife can lead to something not good at all!"

"... or teach this good for nothing son of a turd a lesson!" Alex expressed himself eerily.

"Just... relax, buddy." Lei took short paces in front, "I am sure whatever it is, a sensible solution can be found."

"No, Lei!" Alex angrily shook his head, "I have gone through all the solutions in finding this moron on top of my sister and totally naked! This is the only sensible solution!"

Lei was surprised by the information.

"For God's sake, Lei." Alex displayed an uncontrolled fit of rage in his expression, "I haven't yet mounted on anyone's sister, and this fool who doesn't even know the meaning of an erection finds a perfect mate! Tell me if the solution isn't cutting off his balls or anything close to that!"

"No, Alex!" Lei said circumspectly, "The solution isn't that or anything close to it!" He turned to the young boy, who had visible sweat bubbles on his forehead, "Did you do that?" His tone sounded calm.

Trembling visibly, the boy weakly nodded.

Alex faked an artful chuckle that made him grip the boy tighter.

Lei then turned to Alex's sister, his tone still calm, "Joy, you are a bright good girl. I have known you since you were a baby. You understand things clearly. Why did you do such a thing?"

The tone penetrated inside the young girl's conscious with an unknown regret, "I didn't see anything wrong, Lei. I don't see any harm. Is it supposed to harm us?" She looked innocently quizzical.

"Lei, surely! You want me to listen to this! An eleven-year-old asking if it is supposed to harm them!" Alex's eyes glinted angrily.

Lei stepped forward to him, took the knife from his hand, and held him by the shoulders, then gently led him away from the three kids. The boy heaved a profound sigh of relief and began taking short, natural breaths.

The two youths stopped a couple of meters away from the kids.

Alex, like any other youth in the area, had a high level of reverence and obedience to Lei. He knew that the area youth leader was the most superior-minded of all people he had ever met. He knew Lei as the most reliable problem fixer and mentor because he possessed the best critical judgment and thinking skills he had ever seen. Hence, if he showed brusqueness, rudeness or self-assertion to the man before him, it could have been equivalent to showing an act of madness.

"Listen, Alex." Lei started in a gentle manner, "Let me tell you something here. The mind has the power of both positive and negative thinking. There is the curious mind, which is the most important mind of all. It is even more important than an inventive mind. Why is this, Alex? Because a curious mind feeds on information. And if the information is effective and helpful, then values of importance are added to that mind. Hence it will gain the power of positive thinking. But there is also a careless and ignorant mind. This is the worst mind of all because it feeds on the person's own wishes and desires, and nothing positive or of importance comes out of it- hence acquiring the power of negative thinking." Lei shortly paused, "Your sister has a curious mind, and you should be proud and glad of that. Give her information, the ones you know are right and helpful, and values of importance will be added to her life."

"The fact that she asked me that question, with the innocence that was on her face, means that she doesn't have the RIGHT information and knowledge about sex. She doesn't see the harm because she doesn't have the information. Let us now feed that curious mind with the information that will add positive value to her life."

Alex gave all of his attention to the youth leader meekly and subserviently.

"The first thing, Alex, is that we shouldn't feed the mind with threats, fear and intimidations." Lei continued, "There is no important value she will learn from this. It may work temporarily because of fear of what the consequences will be, which is holding knives, yelling out loud and... probably beatings, but one day they will overcome this fear through exposure as they grow, making them find ways of blocking the consequences. They may engage in it far from here or do it without your knowledge. The key will be avoiding the consequences; which is you finding them. This makes it important for them to get knowledge and understanding, which is permanent, rather than threats and intimidations, which is temporary."

Alex looked at the wise leader calmly, "So, what is the way now?" He inquired and shortly glanced at the children behind Lei's shoulder. They, too, looked back blankly.

"The way is to give them true facts that are straightforward but not complicated to their age." Lei said then turned to the kids behind him, "Come, and let me show you how it is done."

They walked back to the kids and Lei gathered the boy and Joy together. The boy now looked calm but his eyes were still colored from the tears he welled.

"I want to explain something very important to you." Lei looked at them both, "What you did has a name, called sex. Maybe you have heard the term or know what sex is. Either way, I want you to listen attentively."

Both the kids submissively nodded.

"It might have looked harmless when you did it, but the truth is, sex is harmful, wrong and bad when done at your age. There is the age and stage in life where it is right and harmless, and you will get to that age and stage someday in your life. But if you do it now you will only do it in secret, and as I always tell you, secrets always end up being known- especially wrong and bad secrets. If yours is known, let us say by another person than Alex, the person will expose you. If you are exposed and people know you, you will be called names you don't like, other parents will tell their children not to socialize with you and in school, this is where it will be worse. Your friends will be laughing and regularly mocking you and you will not be taken seriously even if you are or want to. You will feel bad and embarrassed and you will not have friends you can comfortably play with. Other parents will know that you are a bad influence and people will be avoiding you and talking badly behind your back. Trust me, it is a very bad feeling. Now is not the time and age to do it. It will be your choice to make; either live happily with your friends and other people and wait for the right time to do it, or do it now and lose your friends, lose your respect from other people and live an unhappy life."

The two kids for a moment turned and exchanged glances, then got back at Lei while showing convinced expressions. They did not have any knowledge that what they did had such explained consequences. In their minds, they certainly did not want to be laughed at or mocked by their friends, or other people looking and judging them negatively. It is best to wait for the right time and live happily with friends and other people.