Trying to Get Away from the Daily Rountine of Life on the Streets

Kids living on the street face a gruelling daily routine.  It usually involves different forms of violence, abuse, drug tacking and other very risky behaviour.  It is not a life that any kids should have to go through.

As I have mentioned before, the Street Team, looks for kids living on the streets of Managua, aiming to win their trust and confidence, so that they might consider living in our Casa Alianza protection centres.  Not every kid is able to make the change to come and live under our protection, or maybe doesn’t want to.  For those kids, the Street Team still looks to provide support and friendship, equally offering an alternative from the drudgery of their daily routine.

On Thursday, we took about 35 kids, from two of Managua’s poorest neighbourhoods, to climb Volcano Mombacho, a spectacular volcano about 45 minutes away from the city.  For kids living on the street, the idea of climbing a volcano for recreational purposes is a very foreign concept.     As such, we aimed to provide them with a day away from their normal lives.

It sounds great, go and give kids on the street and alternative to the streets for one day.   The trouble is, the daily routine which I described at the start of this article, is very addictive for many kids.  Although their life is surrounded by abuse, violence and other challenging behaviour, it is very addictive.  Their is nobody to tell them what to do, when to do it, nobody stopping them from smoking cigarettes, taking drugs etc.   For the kids to come with us, they would have to follow certain rules and regulations, such as a somewhat structured timetable, and no smoking for the time they were with us. 

As such, the first thing we had to do was offer an incentive.  In this case, we assured the kids they would be provided with transport, food, drinks and snacks.  When we arrived at the base of the volcano, we then had to take about an hour and a hour working to calm the kids down, to try and get them on side, understanding the rules and regulations so that we could get them up the volcano.  In the mean time, most of the kids tried to wonder us, sneak up onto the top of the bus to have a smoke, or sulk off, annoyed that they had to climb a steep volcano, when they could be doing their own things.

I am making this point, because altruism is great, but it is not always a two-way process, and for anyone wanting to make a difference, it is important to consider that your own good intentions aren’t always best received.

That being said, the best thing we could do giving the situation, was to remain calm and patient, gradually talking to the kids and gaining their confidence, for them to join us on the activity.  Luckily the patience paid off and the kids joined us for the hike.

The hike itself was about 4 hours, and very steep.  The reason we picked this, was again for one of the key principles of Casa Alianza, using physical activity, sport and recreation to provide alternatives to the street.    As we got underway on the hike, the defences and the aggression that kids had been showing at the start of the day began to fade the way.  The enjoyment and pressure of physical exercise helped bring out what they had locked deep inside of themselves, as normal teenagers, simply looking for a sense of belonging and respect.   The hike was thus truly enjoyable as it gave me a real opportunity to see these kids for who they are truly are, without the barriers that the harshness of living on the streets has forced them to establish.  It was during this time that I was really able to talk to some of the kids, about how they can work to move forward in their lives, in a healthy and sustainable fashion.

The trouble is, when you live on the harshness of the streets, it is much more comfortable to put up barriers then not.  As such, as we returned to the base, the kids swiftly returned to exactly the way they were before the hike.  It was tough to see the change, but to have a few hours with those kids, where they were not street kids or gang members or drug addicts or robbers, but normal teenagers looking for a normal life, was great.  It is a long and challenging process to get teenagers such as this convinced in the benefits of trying to turn their lives around, and very often it doens’t work, but there is hope.  There is hope that if we keep working, that over time, kids will become convinced and willing to work with us, so that they no longer have to face the daily routine of living on the streets.