7 days in Ecuador...what I´ve been up to, and some personal thoughts
It´s been a week since I got here, but it feels like longer, in a good way. In a lot of ways, it has felt like stepping back in where I left off.
I was thinking about what to write, what have I done in the past 7 days? There haven´t been any big adventures. Mostly, I´ve been talking. Actually, mostly I´ve been listening. Yesterday i did feel like I was back in my office at the hospital, only this time, I was on some bleachers watching soccer practice. And one kid would come and talk for awhile, and as soon as he got up, another one would come. Sometimes I´d ask questions but usually they knew what they wanted to say. Most were former program kids, some currently in the shelter. One guy is about to finish his year in the army and is trying to figure out what to do next. Another was talking about the discrimination he faces - nobody wants to rent a room to him because he´s black. Another had just found out that a friend was selling drugs and wasn´t sure what to do about it. Another is HIV positive and has fallen in love.
It´s tough, a lot of them don´t have somebody who will just listen to them. I remember back when I was 15, 16, 17, my life was so much easier by comparison but I was still so mixed up half the time. These guys have been through so much more, and in many ways get held to a higher standard. Middle class teens in the US who get to go to college, even as young adults get the support of parents, of friends, are protected in many ways from their mistakes...here, you´re 15, you´re an adult, and if you want to go to school full time it´s because you´re lazy and don´t want to work. And if you screw up, good luck ever getting a trial, you can just stay in prison until you´ve got enough money to bribe the right people.
Wow, that sounds a little bitter. It´s weird that despite seeing the injustices, I feel such peace here. Sometimes there´s something I can do about it. More often, there isn´t. But I can be a witness. I can let people know what I see. I can stand with them and say no, it isn´t right, and the world shouldn´t be this way, and though I don´t have all the answers we´ve got to try to work together to figure out what to do. I can be with these kids, these men and women, and listen. Right now, I am exactly where I need to be.
I was thinking about what to write, what have I done in the past 7 days? There haven´t been any big adventures. Mostly, I´ve been talking. Actually, mostly I´ve been listening. Yesterday i did feel like I was back in my office at the hospital, only this time, I was on some bleachers watching soccer practice. And one kid would come and talk for awhile, and as soon as he got up, another one would come. Sometimes I´d ask questions but usually they knew what they wanted to say. Most were former program kids, some currently in the shelter. One guy is about to finish his year in the army and is trying to figure out what to do next. Another was talking about the discrimination he faces - nobody wants to rent a room to him because he´s black. Another had just found out that a friend was selling drugs and wasn´t sure what to do about it. Another is HIV positive and has fallen in love.
It´s tough, a lot of them don´t have somebody who will just listen to them. I remember back when I was 15, 16, 17, my life was so much easier by comparison but I was still so mixed up half the time. These guys have been through so much more, and in many ways get held to a higher standard. Middle class teens in the US who get to go to college, even as young adults get the support of parents, of friends, are protected in many ways from their mistakes...here, you´re 15, you´re an adult, and if you want to go to school full time it´s because you´re lazy and don´t want to work. And if you screw up, good luck ever getting a trial, you can just stay in prison until you´ve got enough money to bribe the right people.
Wow, that sounds a little bitter. It´s weird that despite seeing the injustices, I feel such peace here. Sometimes there´s something I can do about it. More often, there isn´t. But I can be a witness. I can let people know what I see. I can stand with them and say no, it isn´t right, and the world shouldn´t be this way, and though I don´t have all the answers we´ve got to try to work together to figure out what to do. I can be with these kids, these men and women, and listen. Right now, I am exactly where I need to be.