Tested to my limits.....But trying my best to keep at it!

I have had had two very hard weeks at work, and although I love it, I have had a couple of experiences which have tested my self-beleif and confidence to its very limits, seeing  in a very first-hand way the cruelty and realities faced by some of the kids we work with, in some of the most brutal of fashions.

For privacy reasons, of the children concerned, I can’t go into the details on here, but I wanted to start with that entry, to explain why I was off the record again for the past couple of weeks, and for those of you who have been in contact with me, and I still have not replied, my apologies!

All of this week I have been back working with the Street Outreach team.  The Street Outreach team goes out onto the streets of Managua and surrounding areas, on a daily basis, looking for kids in need of our protection.

The first step is to win the trust of the kids, and provide basic medical support, such as getting rid of head-lice and cleaning up wounds.  They go to areas on a regular base such as Managua´s Oriental Market, where all day and night many kids as young as 8 years old can be seen living on the streets, sniffing glue, begging for money and basically being forced to live a life that no kid should ever go through.   When one of these kids feels ready, they can go with the street team back to Casa Alianza, and have a go at a new life, with sustainable alternatives to being on the streets.

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, a lot of these kids find it very difficult to adjust to a new life in Casa Alianza.  Coming away from the drugs is a painful experience, and adapting to new things such as a structured time table, workshops and having to stick to certain rules, can prove all to difficult for many kids. 

When I was back at the Oriental Market last Tuesday, I saw one of the kids who had been at Casa Alianza for just under one month.  He was now back at the market and living on its harsh streets, a little jar of glue pressed firmly against his nose, his eyes glazed over,  his face and clothes were filthy.  He is 14 years old.

It is tragic to see a kid in this state.  Especially when in a place like Casa Alianza he does have the opportunity to turn his life around, but the background of the abuses and trauma he faced living on the streets, made it too difficult for him to be able to do so. 

Sadly we are limited in what we can do.  He has decided he does not want to be at Casa Alianza, we have spoken to him, and we can´t force a kid to be here, if they don’t want to be.  Its frustrating and tragic to see this one kid not able to leave his life on the streets. Even more frustrating is the face that this story is very common.  I can tell this story on here beacuse unlike the other issues I have been exposed to these past two weeks, the story I am telling here is tragically one of many.  As such, and perhaps to make a point, I have not put a name to the child in question, as his story is, sadly, a familiar one.  

In the mean time, the street team will keep working in the Oriental Market and in other places around the city and the country.  Who knows, if we are lucky, it might just be that this kid decides to give it another go at turning his life around.  The option of Casa Alianza is still there for him.  In the mean time, we’ve got to keep working, to keep providing a sustainable alternative for children to life on the streets, and although there are many moments of sadness and distress, there are many moments in which we can really see positive change and development.  It can be hard, it has been extremely hard for me these past two weeks, but its question of trying to take home, at the end of the day, those positive moments and not the negative ones.