Staying On

It was, to be honest, a tough decision, and I am really very grateful to some of my friends and family who helped me out on it.

Anybody who reads this blog will know I absolutely love the work at do, but at times it can be tough and draining, and living in Managua (not exactly the safest or friendliest city in the world) never makes it easier.  

So when the National Director of Casa Alianza Nicaragua offered me the chance to stay on for another year, as a regular member of staff in place of being a volunteer, I was faced by a dilemma.  Do I go for it for one more year, is it now time to head on to something new, or even to head back home?

It took a lot of thought, but I have decided to go for, and accepted the opportunity to continue working out here for another year.

I have been exceptionally fortunate, and done a lot of wonderful jobs in a lot of fantastic countries. But one of the main things that I have really discovered out here, is that to truly make a difference, takes a lot of time, and a lot of commitment. 

I would say, in all honesty, that it took me more or less six months here before I really understood how to work best with the kids and the other members of staff.   In those six months I had to really work hard to learn the patience, understanding and the discipline needed to work with these kids, that I have talked about in previous entries.  I also had to learn how to keep my own motivation and personal faith high, in spite of considerable challenges to it.  

I would now happily say that I have got to the level where my understanding and practice is now strong enough to be able to really do positive things.  For me, the project I set up, which I wrote about last month, as been a major example of this.    It took a long time and a lot of effort to get to this level, where I have felt confident enough in myself to set up projects which I really feel might benefit our kids, but now I am there. 

As such, to move on and do something new, or maybe to head back to Europe, just didn’t seem right at this point.  I feel very privileged to have got to the stage where I am at with the kids and other members of staff, and it would be too much of a shame to lose that. 

As such, this blog will be active for at least one more year, and I will do my best to keep the stories coming as we keep working to protect, support and rehabilitate the lives of children of have gone through existencies that no child would ever choose, including living on the street, substance abuse, commercial and sexual exploitation, human trafficking, violence, abuse and abandonment. 

For those in Europe/UK, I will be flying back to the UK at the end of July to catch  up with family and friends,  and will be about until the end of August, before heading back out here to Nicaragua.