The day started out about as poorly as I could have imagined. My friend Keren and I were only able to find Sonia’s parents, which was a big disappointment since I wanted to talk with both mothers at the same time to prevent any miscommunications.
Our conversation started out fine, as Sonia’s parents thanked me for my help. Next, though, they told me they thought it would be best if I stopped taking the kids out to lunch since I had caused some drama between the two mothers. I had Keren tell them that while I recognized the problems between the families, I didn’t want them to supercede the kids’ welfare in importance, although I would grant their wish if they really wanted me to.
At this point Sonia’s mother, Karla, asked to speak with us alone. I found it odd that she would want to talk with us without her husband, but quickly realized why when she told us that the father is a drunk and spends all of their money on alcohol. She said that they aren’t married but live together and have had all of the kids together.
Keren and I had talked prior to today’s meeting about the best possible approach to take in offering to help pay for the kids to attend school. We decided it would be best to lay out our plan to both mothers at the same time, so we went with Sonia’s mother and the mother of two other kids who I spent time with as well to see Ana Patricia, Ninoska’s mother.
The conversation with the two mothers went quite well. Keren explained to them that we want to start a sponsorship program in which friends and family from the
Ana Patricia likes the school her two kids (Carlos and Kevin) go to, which I think is great since it is literally right across the street from their house. She said that this sponsorship program would allow her to send Ninoska back to school, and also allow her family to save the small, but very important, amount of money they spend on school for Carlos and Kevin.
Karla is not too fond of this school and chose another school nearby. She also thought this was a better choice because it would also give Sonia and Ninoska some space, since they don’t always get along.
In addition to paying for school, Keren had the great idea of offering a reward of $25/month worth of food for the parents to send their kids to school. It makes sense, since the kids earn money for the family on the street, that we should compensate the family for their lost income and give them an incentive for sending them to school. The moms approved of this deal, even agreeing to get receipts to prove the money is being used for food.
In addition, the mother of two other kids I’ve been spending time with, Josselyn and Jonathan, agreed to this deal as well. This brings the total to 9 kids. Very exciting!
The trip to their neighborhood was quite beneficial. I really enjoyed seeing Ninoska’s house, meeting her dad, checking out their school, and getting a better feel for their lives. The house, made of cinder blocks and scraps of metal, is very small. I’m not sure how they fit the parents, three older kids, and a baby in there. I was really touched when Ana Patricia showed me a letter I wrote to Ninoska on the wall of her house.
I am so glad the moms could put aside their differences in order to talk about helping their kids. Although we didn’t work out the specifics I am so encouraged that the moms agreed to the deal in principle.
Many of you have contacted us with very generous offers to help. Hopefully this sponsorship program will become a real possibility. I’ll certainly keep you all posted when we figure out some more details.
After talking with the moms we went back to Metrocentro where I met the kids for lunch. All nine of us crowded around a few tables we put together and enjoyed one last meal from Tip-Top.
Afterwards we went to the “Fun House,” which is an arcade in the mall. The kids were out-of-control excited and I quickly realized I was completely unable to manage them. We spent about an hour there, most of which I was being dragged around by jumping, smiling children speaking much faster than I could ever hope to understand, wanting me to swipe the card which allowed them to play the games they wanted. It was intense but definitely lots of fun. The only way I could get them to leave was to offer to ice cream, which was another hit.
Saying goodbye was tough, but in a good way. We made some major strides today in our relationships and I think this depth will be reflected in how excited I will be to see them again when I return after our brief trip back to the States. I was so glad that the kids had a fun last day devoid of drama. They deserved it after the troubles we’ve had the past few days.
It’s amazing how attached I’ve become to kids whom I’ve really only known for about a month and have immense trouble communicating with. They really are beautiful children who have just been born into circumstances far more difficult than I could ever imagine.
Ok, that’s all for now. The blog will likely be dormant for some time as we’ll both be home until Nov. 28th, although there is a rumor that Lauren might save you from having to constantly read my writing sometime soon…
Thank you so much for all of the support we’ve gotten throughout this first leg of our adventure. It’s been so wonderful for us to receive so much love and encouragement. Even by just reading this blog you are supporting us much more than you will ever know. We’ve both been so blessed by family and friends throughout the last 7.5 weeks and can’t wait to return home to thank you all in person.
Much love,
dw
No comments:
Post a Comment