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