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.

My Personal Addiction Problem

The vast majority of the kids I work with have addiction problems.  For those that come from living on the streets, it is mainly to glue and crack.

Glue is a particularly painful addiction to see the kids go through.  Kids living on the street can by a jar of very powerful glue from shoemakers in Nicaragua’s markets.  A jar costs 5 Cordobas (as an idea, 20 Cordobas = $1), and usually lasts a kid about one day.

The kids then walk about all day with this little jar of glue stuffed under their nose, which they inhale frequently.  It makes them sleepy and lethargic, their eyes glaze over, and by the afternoon, they are normally slumped on the streets, incapable of doing much or communicating properly.  It is an exceptionally powerful addiction, and in terms of living on the street, it also has the very important effect of taking away hunger and the cold. 

The fact that the glue sniffing can only be done in a very open manner, also means that it strips all dignity away from the kids. They lose interest in personal hygiene because of it, and also become exposed to more risky behaviour.  

At Casa Alianza we work hard to help kids with these addiction problems, and in my area, working to provide sustainable alternatives, such as sporting events, so that they have something to replace their necessity for the drugs.

For those who have spoken to me in person, or have been following this blog, will know that this sort of work, in direct contact with around 70 kids on a daily basis, to help them find alternatives to life on the streets, if very, very intense!

As such, I wanted to write a bit about my own addiction problem. 

The work is very intense, and the fact that I am doing it in a nasty and dangerous city makes it even more intense.  And here is where my own addiction comes into play, and I thought it was time to share it here:

The danger with this intensity, of giving 100% of myself to the work I do is that, aside from the intensity, it is very, very addictive.  I have heard of aid workers and journalists speaking of a similar issue.  Being in such direct contact, and being able to directly see the change I am making through giving all I have to give is great, but very addictive.  Addiction to something like this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is something I have to be careful with.  Living in a nasty, dangerous town has also become, bizarrely addictive.  Living in a nice, safe part of the world, currently seems desirable, but a very alien concept.    Working in a less direct fashion to what I am currently doing also seems like a strange idea.

So, like with the kids, I need to manage, control and be aware of my addiction.  I need to provide myself with the sustainable alternatives that I seek to help provide for the kids.  Of course, living in a dangerous city like Managua does not make that too easy.  In the mean time, I will keep giving all I have to give, to make a difference, but at the same time, trying to be more aware that I need to reserve a little bit of myself, in order to control this personal addiction to my work. 

Once again, to all who follow this blog, thank you, and happy Easter. 

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.