Marangita

So I have been wanting to share our other apostolate with you all for some time now but simply have not been able to fit it into a sponsor letter and since there are a few of those left I figured I would take advantage of my blog to share it with you.

Every Thursday we go to visit a place called Maranga which is more or less a juvenile detention center for boys under 21 years old. It is not a jail but each person has a certain amount of time they are required to be in Maranga for some crime that they committed (usually drug or theft related). There are programs that teach the boys skills that hopefully they will use once they leave instead of returning to the way of life they had before ending up in Maranga.

Whenever we go visit, we simply sit and talk with the guys we know. Maranga is divided into patios, some are a little more laid back than others, and there isn’t really any place to walk around or play soccer or “do” anything. We know people in various patios and try to visit at least 2 if not 3 every week. The conversations are about things that happened this past week in Maranga or in La Ensenada, their families, our families, our countries, what they want to do when they get out, what we will do when we get home, etc.

Jose* is a guy from Colombia that spent 4 years in Maranga and just left in May. He had a hard life before Maranga and since he is from Colombia, never received a family visit. In 4 years, Heart’s Home had become his family and some of the few people that genuinely cared about him and wanted the best for him. He would tell us stories about his time with his gang, his son that he hardly knew but wanted to see so bad, his small jobs here and there helping an electrician in Maranga, everything. There was a huge amount of trust in this relationship as he often told us things and asked that we not say anything about it to anyone. As he was getting ready to leave, we often asked him what his plans were. Was he going to go back to Colombia or stay in Peru? Did he want to go back to “work” with his gang or as an electrician? If he stayed in Peru where was he going to live? Things of that sort. Our hearts ached when it became obvious that even though he wanted to stay in Peru he was going to “work” as he did before (aka theft) for a little so that he could have money to go back to Colombia. We tried to subtly tell him that maybe working as an electrician would be the best way to get back to Colombia and see his son or that maybe he should just go straight to Colombia and look for a job there instead of staying here for a while. As his birthday got closer and closer (he got out when he turned 21) we began praying even harder that he would make the best decisions for him and for his son. We invited him to the house the day after he was supposed to get out for his birthday, gave him our number, our email addresses, everything within our power to how him that he was someone important for us and that we only want the best for him but we aren’t going to judge him for whatever decision he makes.

We never got a call or email from Jose when he left and have no news of him now. I simply hope that he is safe and that he can see his son some day.

Two of our other friends that we visit are Ricardo and Juan. They are pretty much a tag team and full of laughs. Juan is finishing high school and is involved with the theater group and is always sure to invite us to one of their little shows knowing that we love it and won’t stop talking about it for months (I’m still talking about the one back in November…). Ricardo used to be in the same patio as Jose but was moved to one with lower security on account of good behavior. He works in the office every now and then and hopes to study something similar to MIS once he gets out.

About a month and a half ago, we went to Patio Don Bosco looking for Ricardo and Juan but they were nowhere to be found. Some of our other friends told us that something had been stolen from the guard’s office and half of the patio was being punished and had been moved to other patios. Juan and Ricardo were included and had been moved to Patio San Martin de Porres. It was a no-brainer for us. We were going to go find them and talk to them, see how they were doing, and to find out what happened. When we showed up in San Martin de Porres both boys seemed a little shocked and surprised that we had looked for them and that we weren’t going to leave until we had seen them. They were definitely a little down about everything that had happened and both say they are innocent, and we believe them. This whole event is now a thing of the past and we are simply waiting to hear about the next theater performance or about when the boys will get to move back to Don Bosco.

There are many chicos that we visit in Maranga and I ask that you please pray that each one may make the best decisions for their life. Please pray especially for Juan as his dad was killed a few months ago and he didn’t know about it for a few weeks. He seems to be doing fine now but I’m sure there are days when it is difficult for him.

Until next time!

Kari

*names were changed

Ps…please don’t be afraid to send snail mail my way :D