A Heart-melting Moment for Me

My husband and I got to experience a total stranger's kindness and generosity first-hand during a 10-day trip across the High Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert.

On our second-to-last day in Morocco, we happily took a trip to Essaouira, an old and beautiful seaside town on the Atlantic. During the journey there, we stopped at an Argan co-operative（合作社）, where we got to taste some Argan oil and honey. After that, we headed where we stayed. We arrived at our small guesthouse in Essaouira at around dinnertime, and on our way to a local restaurants my husband started to feel unwell. He went back to our guesthouse while I had dinner with some friends.

When I got back to our guesthouse after dinner, I found my husband sitting on the bathroom floor, looking very pale. He had been sick about six times in an hour. He spent the rest of the night in the bathroom, getting very familiar with the house's pipe. Our main suspect was the Argan honey—it probably didn't agree with him.

At about 6 a. m., my husband finally managed to leave the bathroom and crawl into bed. He was very weak and dehydrated（脱水的），so I went down to the reception to buy a bottle of water. When I got to the lobby（门厅）,I found a young man behind the desk, who didn't look older than 18, and explained to him that my husband was sick and I needed to buy some bottled water for him.

Our house was very small and basic and didn't have a restaurant or cafe. The young man informed me that they didn't sell any drinks at the house, so I asked him where the nearest shop was.

I looked out the window and my heart started to race. I didn't fancy risking going into the unfamiliar streets of the Medina in the dark, all by myself. In fact, I was afraid of it.

Instead of giving me directions to the nearest shop, the young man asked me to wait for him there.

I handed him a 50 Dirham note （about 5 EUR） for the water.

Kenny Matthews was just three when the flat he lived in went up in smoke in 1991. The accident left him with burns to 70% of his body. Despite being very young when he suffered his burns, Kenny can still remember the day of the accident.

He was playing with his toys and watching TV on the floor in the living room while his grandfather was sleeping on the living room couch. All of a sudden, he heard a sudden noise from the window and that was when the window caught fire. He had no idea what caused the window to burst like that, but all he remembered was the apartment filling up with gas and smoke from the fire. He could do nothing but panic (恐慌).

His grandfather, who had been asleep, woke up because of the smoke. He tried to save Kenny’s life, but he couldn’t really do much because he was weak. Picking Kenny up under his arms, he carried him over the window — unfortunately, that’s how Kenny got burnt by the fire.

Kenny and his grandfather were rushed to the hospital. His grandfather, whose arms were badly burned, was hospitalized for a while and then discharged (出院). Kenny went through numerous surgeries over the next few decades, which he described as a very painful journey.

Now, after having been through so much over the years, Kenny’s treatment is finally done. The 36-year-old man has shared online how his burns and scars (伤疤) have affected his life as an adult. “People don’t really care about personality — they just want somebody to look good or attractive physically, and honestly, I don’t fit that description,” Kenny says.

There was a guy who once said to him. “It is hard to feel attracted to someone like you because of your scars and burns.” Kenny understands it’s not their fault. He’s smart enough to know not every person is the same, even though he’s not actively looking for a partner.