Trying to find a healthy sense of belonging, away from drugs and gangs

For most people (well by that I mean me) Valentine's Day is possibly one of the least anticipated days of the year.  It is either one which involves spending excesses amount of money, or defending yourself to your friends as to why you are single. 

For the kids at Casa Alianza, Valentine's Day is, howevert, a different matter.  Many of the kids, when they become residents at Casa Alianza, have been forced to leave behind loved ones who weren't willing to follow in their recuperation process, or many even have been forced to leave behind their own kids, while they try to get their lives back on track.   In this context, Valentine's Day - or  the Day of Love and Friendship as it is known in this part of the world, can be a very tough one for many kids. 

As such, this year at Casa Alianza Nicaragua we planned a whole day event to give all the kids and members of staff the sense of the love and friendship that nearly all have lost in their lives.   The day started with a special ceremony in which those who had managed to get through certain lengths of time without taking drugs were rewarded for their efforts.

In the afternoon we planned a big sports day event with various team and individual athletic events.  The idea was that through sports, healthy competition and the power of team work, we would be able to provide the kids with the sense of belonging which many of them desperately crave, and as such previously looked for refuge in drugs or in gangs.
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Yesterday we also held another major event, again with the intention of using sports and culture to help kids find healthy and sustainable solutions to give them that sense of belonging, instead of turning to drugs, being forced into the sex industry, or gang membership.  

We held a big national football tournament right by Managua's Old Catherdral, where teams participated from Casa Alianza and other recovery centers across the country, as well as teams formed by members of some of Managua's poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods.

I was referee for the whole event.

I have no doubt that many of the kids I was referring are robbers and possibly worse, recovering or still addicted consumers of drugs.  They are basically kids that are easy to forget or deemed best to be ignored and left alone, so they don't rob you.

But through events such as these, it is firstly possibly that these drug addicts and gang members are just normal kids, in need of normal things.  Little events like a football tournament gave them the chance to behave the way a normal teenager should, being seen as equals, and not robbers and drug addicts.

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What both of these events have shown to me, is that like any kids, the kids of Casa Alianza and Nicaragua need a sense of love, friendship and belonging.  The easiest way to find this was on the streets, the gangs or in drugs.

Through events such as these two have I described, bit by bit, we can go about giving kids a healthy alternative, providing them with the values that they need, in a healthy and sustainable way.