Sam's father met a heartrending fate three years ago, leaving him in the fragile care of his elderly grandmother. His mother's whereabouts remain a shrouded mystery, attributed to the chaotic circumstances under which she and his father met. His parents' paths crossed at a bustling fishing site, an infamous hotspot for fleeting relationships and, tragically, prostitution. Many women are driven to such harsh environments to scrape together a living, often resulting in them bouncing from one man to another. It is suspected that Sam's father fell victim to this very peril, contracting HIV/AIDS from his time there.

Unraveling the puzzle of Sam's precise age proved to be a daunting task until I sought the help of their neighbors. They strained to recall when the young boy was first entrusted to his grandmother, shedding some much-needed light on the matter.

His grandmother, now teetering on the edge of eighty-five, is crippled by old age and her incapacity to engage in income-generating activities to keep the family afloat. Our conversation was punctuated by her fight to hold back tears, the weight of the trials she endures visibly taking a toll on her. She lost her husband nine years ago, and heartbreakingly, the majority of her children succumbed to HIV/AIDS, contracted from the same fish landing sites, leaving her all alone.

Against the backdrop of adversity, Sam stands as a beacon of promise and ambition. When asked about his dreams for the future, he expressed a deep-seated admiration for the police force. The role they play and the uniform they don as they serve inspire him. Consequently, his heart yearns for one thing - to become a policeman amidst these trying circumstances.