April 08

6-April-08

I. Estela
Estela Ambrosio has been a friend to us in Vida Joven for years. She lives with her family down at the bottom of the great long staircase that leads into the Anexo Aguilar. Last year she began volunteering with us, focusing on the teenage mothers in the neighborhood. Shamed, abandoned, and forgotten when possible, these girls lead lives that are as dark and hopeless as any I know of. Estela has begun the radically counter-cultural work of actually seeking these girls out, spending time with them, and helping them with basic necessities. She has begun a small discipleship group, but she has a list in her mind of many more girls who need help and friendship. Estela has kids of her own, though – four of them, ages 22 to 7 – and a full time job to help feed the family. Her husband, Luis, is a good friend of ours as well, but they can’t make ends meet with just his job as a mechanic. Estela loves the ministry, but the family needs to eat. For some time, we have wished we could offer Estela Ambrosio a part time job, but perhaps the time just wasn’t right.

Then, a few weeks ago, a thoughtful donor provided us with enough money to pay Estela on a part-time basis for a year. We offered her the job, and she starts this week.

I’m thrilled to get to work with her, as I am with Sandra and Fito – all three were born and raised there in the neighborhood, and they can go places the rest of us can’t. (Well, we physically go there, but I don’t know how much good we are able to do.) Girls come to Sandra. Boys trust Fito. Young mothers know they are loved by Estela. In a culture where most people’s concern for others goes no farther than their own front door (and often not that far), these three are radically different.

Fito has put together a soccer team of misfits, wanna-be gangsters, ex-criminals, and boys who don’t have anything better to do. They play in a local league, and they’ve even won a couple of games.

Sandra is the queen of El Recuerdo, a neighborhood as tough as any I know. The level of violence and disorder there is astounding. And into it all walks Sandra, just about every day, looking for “her girls.” Or they come looking for her.

Estela actually pays attention to some teenage mothers and their little babies. This is most unusual for the neighborhood and certainly for the mothers themselves.

All three are known to be odd, in that they actively seek the friendship and well-being of others. They move into people’s lives in love, rather than in violence or greed. They are certainly well known, possibly a little famous, and for the right things. We’re so lucky to get to work with them. I’m so lucky that I get to see God moving in them and through them. I thought you might feel that way as well.

(Rebeca Aguilar, also on staff with Vida Joven, spends lots of time training and encouraging Sandra and Estela. This is vital work. Would you pray for all three of them as they walk together, and for me as I spend time with Fito?)

Thank you for being with us in this.


II. Scholarships

For a number of years, we’ve wanted to start a scholarship program for some kids we know. There always seem to be one or two who really want to study, but who just can’t pull the money together. (Public education is not an option for these kids. There are public elementary schools, but after fifth grade, kids either find a cheap private school or they just don’t go to school.) This year, thanks to some generous gifts, we were able to do it. Kevin, Susy, Kari, Lupe, and Elías all received scholarship money and are studying this year. Short of going seriously into debt, none of them would be able to study were it not for the program. We picked the kids who really wanted to study, who we thought showed good potential, and who were willing to agree to our terms (rules regarding grades, studying, etc.) Things are generally going well (read below for details), and of course it’s very exciting for us to see these kids studying and interested in a future beyond the life that surrounds them in that neighborhood.

Thanks for making all of this possible.

III. One more story, if you’ve got the time:

Kevin lasted all of five days in his school. Didn’t even get his uniform. We actually did go to the office to buy him one – Maritza, Kevin’s mom, and me. I had gone with Kevin to see his new school, I was goint to wait around until Maritza got off work, and she and I were going to buy his uniform. They were both very proud of the school and the fact that Kevin was studying there, and they wanted me to see the place, maybe meet the director, buy up the last of the stuff he needed for the semester.

We didn’t buy anything, but we did meet the director.

Maritza and I went to the office in order to see about buying the uniform, but the director asked us over to her desk. She asked Maritza if she could speak freely in front of me, as I was obviously not the father or any other sort of family member. Maritza had explained that I was helping with the money. “Ah,” she said. “Then this will be of interest to you as well. Did Kevin tell you why I asked to speak with you?”

Of course we had no idea what she was talking about – Kevin had told us nothing. He’d been caught bringing pot to other students.

Kevin had been good friends with German, the kid who was shot dead some time ago. Last year, Kevin’s father landed in prison, making it necessary for Kevin to drop out of school to find work in order to feed the family. Somewhere during the process, Kevin was befriended by the neighborhood drug dealer, Freddy, and he started delivering, using, and maybe selling. Freddy was shot dead the week between Christmas and New Years (You can pray for his wife and children, notably Nestor, who is on Fito’s soccer team). But whoever coordinates the drug trade in our neighborhood put a couple of new guys in his place, so it was for them that Kevin was bringing stuff to his friends at school.

I was particularly excited about Kevin going back to school. He is an exceptionally bright guy, and he has had such a hard time of things. He was excited to get back to school, and in fact for that first week, every time we met, he had done all his homework and seemed to be enjoying classes. Maritza thought he had finally turned things around.

He still says he wants to turn things around, and I hope he does. The director at the school graciously returned $40 we had paid in entrance fees, even though she kicked him out. We let Kevin and Maritza use the returned money to sign up at another school, but we won’t be paying any of his tuition this year. Six weeks into the school year, he seems to be doing OK. He’s still studying, not into any trouble yet (or he hasn’t gotten caught yet), and he finally did get his uniform for this new school.

A decent private school costs very little; a little over $500 pays for Kevin’s entire year. A good school, where a kid can graduate with some real opportunities, costs a bit more. It’s about $1600 each to send Elías, Susy, and Kari to a middle-class school where the kids go on to university. We think these three especially have great potential and should be planning to go to a good university. The tuition is much more than either of their families can afford, and indeed there has been a little culture shock – these kids are from a part of town and a culture that are mysterious and maybe a little unwelcome in the experience of the other students. But they are working hard, surviving, and they’re learning how to operate in a different world than what they’re used to.

Kevin lasted five days before he fell back into the temptation of quick money. Elías has lasted six weeks at this new and challenging school, but just barely – he’s pretty close to failing. Lupe was just barely accepted into school at all – the city government had mixed up her paperwork, and it took a well-placed $25 by our staff woman Sandra to get everything in order on the last possible day. This whole business seems very tenuous; the scholarships, the kids’ chances for success, their chances for surviving growing up in this neighborhood with anything like real life, real relationships, real love. It’s all so shaky. Just when I think I’ve gotten used to it, the director of the school politely tells me that she’s kicking my kid out for selling drugs, or I pick up Elías’ report card, or I hear about Lupe’s battle with bureaucracy, and I realise I’m not used to it. I want the sure thing! I want something to be easy. I want Kevin to wake up, I want Elías to go to university and get a job that lets him be creative. I want Kari to study in the US. It may happen; it likely will not. We act as if we were sure it will. That’s about all any of us knows to do. Thank you for being with us in this. We’re grateful to have you as friends and partners in what’s going on down here.

-Brady

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