Dear Friend
As promised, and with some delay, please find following some news about my « adventure » in Guatemala and my experience with the Street’s children.
I arrived at the end of August and settled down in the beautiful city of Antigua Guatemala (former colonial capital) where all the Spanish schools are.
I went on the very intense program, as I was supposed to speak in ten days, starting my job with Casa Alianza beginning of September.
Result: far from perfect but I manage to make myself understood (or I hope so!).
Antigua is an 18e Century city with numerous churches, with an extremely elaborated outside decoration, contrasting with the very simple inside decoration. Everything is red, yellow, blue or green, and the vegetation is extremely lush (luxuriant) with flowers everywhere. It is a quite lovely introduction to the country, but as I was going to realize a week later, it is sadly only a vitrine, as poverty is not so far.
I started with Casa Alianza on September 1st. Casa Alianza is a non profit organisation which is taking care of Street Children between 10 to 18 years old, doing drugs or prostitutions. It is an age considered as difficult, and the organisation is trying to convince the kids to come to one of the houses, where they could receive food, health and psychological support, accommodation and more.
There are two houses (one for the boys (85) and one for the girls (50)), and each of them have 4 levels.
Level 1 (nivel de diagnostico) is for the kids coming directly from the street. They have to be able to stay in level 1 for one month, learning to live in community, respecting each other, with no drugs, sex or violence of any kind. Many of them cannot manage this radical change of live, and steal anything and go back to the street. Some have been trying for more than 2 years before being able to go up. The rules are pretty simple, but it is extremely hard for a kid who has been alone in the streets for many years, fighting for his survivance and life every day, stealing money for food or drugs, to adapt to the basics rules of live in community, which will bring him to readapt to life in society.
Level 2 (nivel de autoafirmation) is for approximately 4 to 5 months, and it is the level where the kids (or adolescents) carry on learning the life in community. They realise and agreed to change their life. They have activities like sports, schools, talks etc….It is the level where I work for the moment. I am working as a volunteer, helping in all the activities, the educator in charge. I am slowly taking over the teaching part, which is more in my competence, and I give classes of English, History and Geo and a little bit of computer. But these classes are really basic, as many of them don’t know how to write or even read (at 15 or 16 years olds). So we do alphabetisation, basic math and so on…Nevertheless several of them are extremely bright and willing to learn…
The rest of the time, we do a lot of sport, which make me running like crazy and I realise that I am not a kid anymore!!! Anyway, c’est la vie! I will come back extremely fit and knowing the rules of soccer (which I hate, BUT it is a national sport, so I was obliged to make the best of it!!)
Level 3 &4 ( nivel de consolidacion) are for the kids who accepted the rules of living in community and work to reintegrate society. Casa Alianza give them the possibility to live in the house, and working or studying meanwhile, outside of the house. It give them the possibility to earn some money for later (which Casa Alianza put in an account in the bank), or to study in high school (if they have the capacity), and to be able to have a home to come back every night, with a group of friend, without going back to drugs and gangs).
In the girl’s house, there is one more level, which is the “young girl-mother”. Casa Alianza gives the possibility for below 18 years old pregnant girls, to come to live in the house, in order to give birth in decent condition, and to stay for one year with the baby.
Casa Alianza is a surrogate of Covenant House, and they have houses in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador and Mexico.
I hope I am not boring you to death, but the most difficult part is coming now. There is a team of Street educator, who are going in the most difficult, poor and dangerous part of the city, in order to find the children and talk to them. I had the opportunity to join this team several time, and when my Spanish will be better, I should be part of this team on a more regular base.
It is quite tough, and one is able to touch the total misery of poverty, children abuse, drugs and prostitution. It is certainly not the monopoly of Guatemala City, as this situation should be existing in any major capitals of the world, but it is the one I am confronted with.
The children are in the street for different reason: one, of course, by being orphans, but many of them (most of them, should I say) are in the Street because Home is an hell (Drunk parents, forced prostitution, children sexually abused by parents or Step parents etc…), Usually, they find in the street a gang which will take care of them and protect them, against organised robbery, drugs traffic or murder). They are in group (girls and boys between 10 to 18) and they moved around the poorest district of the city to find drugs (solvent), avoid the police or private security group ( which chase them like rat and do not hesitate to shoot at them), or to find some potential victims of robbery.
We went in extremely poor and dirty houses in ruins, where group of kids with infected wounds, where sniffing or drinking solvent, waiting to be “out” in order to forget.
You try to talk and you only face empty eyes, or even worse, eyes with no hope. In the evening shift, the kids were more aggressive and difficult to speak with.
I am amazed by the work and devotion of some of these street educators, who know most of the kids and every week try to talk to them, bring them some medicament, some respect by talking to them like normal human being. I feel honoured to have the possibility to work with them.
I could start telling you the story of each of them, which could be depressing and sad, but I am not trying to make you feeling pity. I will nevertheless, in each of my monthly email, tell you a story of one or two of them, living in the community, when I will have been able to listen to their story. They are quite prude, and first, you need to gain their confidence.
That is it for the first month. I am writing to you from a Benedictine Monastery where I am taking some time off, in order to relax and think a little bit. Beautiful place, lost in the middle of the mountains.
THIS EMAIL IS QUITE LONG AND I HOPE IT DID NOT BOTHER YOU.
In order to not impose on your time, I WILL ONLY SEND THE FOLLOWING MONTLY EMAIL, TO THE PERSONN WHO REPLY TO THIS ONE AND ARE INTERESTED TO KNOW MORE.
Thank you again for your time and your friendship.
Thank you to many of you for your moral support to me while I was making the decision to give up my job and to go working with children.
Sincerely Yours
Ghislain
