Tuesday 16th May 2023

It´s a 12-hour drive from Guatemala City to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras and last week´s drive down was a great time to think, reflect and pray.  This time I had Sony, Danilo and Sergio with me as Danilo and Sergio had been invited to spend two weeks in Talanga, Honduras, where the Proyecto Alas mentoring centre is.  Their time in Talanga I know will be filled with unforgettable times of working with the Alas team and the children and sharing something of their lives and stories with the 60 at-risk kids in the programme.

Monday 10th April 2023

According to UNICEF nearly half of all children under five years of age in Guatemala suffer from chronic malnutrition.  Most of these children will live in distant rural communities where help, advice and support are not as available as it is here in the city.

However, most of the children we work with and who have lived on the streets over the years have come from indigenous communities from these rural settings.  The impact of malnutrition in the early years leads to stunted growth and many of the young children we work with here in Guatemala City are very undeveloped for their age.  Our evaluations of them sadly demonstrate their place on the developmental scale and it´s not great.

Saturday 29th April 2023

Walking down one of the busy roads in La Terminal in Guatemala City will take you past hundreds of stalls, most selling flowers, fruit and vegetables.  It is noisy and often messy under foot as the thousands of daily visitors help generate over 3 million pounds worth of transactions per day.  Built in the 1950s as a hub for the rural bus network to connect with the city centre, La Terminal has grown into the largest market in Central America.

Saturday 18th February 2023

Many of us have been in those moments when we receive news of a loved one who has passed away and we are left in shock and often can´t believe what we are hearing. We can quickly say something like: “but I only saw them yesterday”.  Dealing with the death of someone we care for is not an easy time and one can often feel guilty, angry, sad as well as suffer a tremendous sense of loss.

Friday 9th June 2023

Poverty debilitates, it crushes hopes, robs you of dignity, makes you vulnerable to exploitation and violence and leads to greater social exclusion with its negative health outcomes. Poverty is not just a mind-set, but a day-to-day reality for all the children we work with.  Growing up in poverty will mean you can´t access good education, you will probably live in a home that has no running water, toilet or safe place to sleep. Your home is probably not yours and so are at constant risk of losing it. Children that grow up in poverty and from a single-parent family are far more likely to head to the streets or become members of a local gang.

Monday 17th July 2023

Saturday was a long day, but they usually are with mentoring and family visits.  But Saturday was a little longer than normal because we had been invited to visit a project that feeds homeless people the centre of Guatemala City.

I am always keen to visit and support new projects and see the heart local people have for those who live an excluded life on the streets. The project is open on a Saturday evening and runs from 6pm to about 9pm and has been running long enough for the city´s homeless to know where to go for a hot meal and some company.

The excitement of going and spending time with this group of committed volunteers, who seem to run everything on a budget of nothing, was topped by taking Kenedy with me and also having Sony and Juan Carlos join us to see for themselves what others are doing.

Kenedy (photo above serving food) has been trying to put into practice some of the things he has been learning in mentoring and serving others is very high up on his agenda.  He finishes college this year and is keen on taking a gap-year with us and serving young people in the Centro Opp mentoring centre.

Our evening began by preparing tables and chairs in the street for the serving of food and then the leaders began with a time of worship and a bible story.  Those gathered for a meal joined in with great enthusiasm and seemed very touched by the message before the meal was served.

My eyes were drawn into a few people who were not engaging in the activity.  A boy, around 8 years-of-age, came and watched and one could see that he hadn´t eaten much that day and was standing at a distance watching the food being served.  Thankfully one of the volunteers invited him to sit and eat and he did so with great enthusiasm, while at the same time was being vigilant to what was happening all around him.

I was not close enough to speak to him due to me now sitting across the street with two homeless guys.  One lost interest very quickly as a taxi driver, obviously known to him, handed him a phone and I could see that it was his family calling him to check if he was OK.  This left me alone with David.

David (photo right) was unable to walk and so crawled around and invited me to sit next to him and talk.  As I introduced myself and he told me his name we both stared into each other’s eyes as it was clear we knew each other.  I haven´t seen David in many years, probably about 10 years now, but his unmistakeable smile and voice reminded me of when I first knew him when he was a homeless 12-year-old and addicted to drugs.

Many years have gone by and there was lots to catch up on.  David just kept hugging me and telling me he has missed me and wanted to know all the things I had been doing and then went into great detail as he told me about mutual street friends and who was still alive and who is doing what and where they now sleep.  It was a very special time and one that really blessed the both of us.

Later that evening I receive a message from a friend of mine who works in La Terminal and wanted some advice about what we could do to help a 12-year-old boy who was in need of support and possibly a short time in the Protection Home.  We needed more information and so this took us into Sunday which is when I was able to respond to the plea for help.

The boy was not in immediate danger and so I could continue with the day´s activities of mentoring and then head to La Terminal later on Sunday evening to find out where he is and more about his situation.

I walked down the Quinta (5^th Street) and found him with his sister, two younger brothers, his mum and dad, all sitting on the streets just watching life go past.  The mum got up now and again to make tortillas for various people who came by to get their supply for their evening meal.  Tortillas are the staple food here and an important part of every meal.

Joshua saw me coming and a huge smile grew across his face as he hugged me and buried his face into my chest.  He is small for his age and his two younger brothers joined in the hug and this made his mum and dad stand up and greet me.  His parents, obviously knowing the reason I was visiting, started by telling me “Yes we hit him because he doesn´t do what he is told and doesn´t complete his homework”.  I am now trying to work out what is going on from what I see, what I know and also the years of experience in working with this family.

It is clear his parents are frustrated and when they are like this they resort to the standard response with their children and that is to beat them.  Two of Joshua´s siblings are already in care, for the same reason, and it now seems to me that he will be heading the same way.

I ask his parents for permission to sit on the street corner and speak with him and they nod and return to watching the world go by.  Joshua skips alongside me and climbs up on a wall and taps his hand next to him, indicating where he would like me to sit.

There are no opening questions as he begins to tell me, without stopping for breath, what he thinks of his parents and how badly they treat him and how much they are beating him.  He lifts up his t-shirt to show me the bruises on his back and turns his head around to show me the other side of his face, which was purple with bruises he says and then points to other injuries and continues to say how he is feeling and not holding back on his colourful use of the Spanish language. The next bit leaves me staring into his eyes as he tells me three times of his father´s threat to kill him if he doesn´t do what he is told!

At this point his little brother climbs up on the wall and sits next to him and tells me that Joshua is being beaten and this brings tears into Joshua´s eyes which, in turn, makes his little brother reach out his arms and hug him.  It is all rather moving and overwhelming.

Joshua then goes on to tell me that a lady across the road befriended him and offered him somewhere to sleep last week as he was not willing to sleep at home anymore.  This annoyed his parents also, who later told me they didn´t like the idea of Joshua sleeping in a place that is also used for prostitution.

Clearly the situation is not great and I know that we have more of a picture of what is going on to act and offer him an alternative.  What that alternative is will become clear later today.  But just being here and being around means that Joshua, like so many boys his age and of similar circumstances, won´t need to take the street option.  We have a much better system in place now to respond to all manner of situations and prevent more young children heading the way of the street, like David did when he was 12.

We sit in silence for a while and I think about the parallels between the lives of David and Joshua and how one life can still be changed now to prevent another child heading the same way as David did when he was 12.

Tuesday 29th August 2023

The last few weeks have been particularly busy with the Camino por Amor walk, which was a tremendous success and not only raised funds for the projects we partner with, but also has created a tremendous affinity from the children to the projects they are supported by. 

A huge thank you to all who supported in any way and to everyone who donated online.  The appeal page is still open till the end of September if you would like to support.

Today I would like to talk about education.  In Guatemala, like Honduras and so many countries in Latin America, education is a poorly funded sector.  Despite the government here making some investments in the structural improvements to some schools, the gap between what is urgently needed and what is being offered is huge.

USAID report that only 68% of all children who enrol in their local primary school actually finish their schooling.  The older the children get the worse the statistics are, demonstrating that only 10% of students make it to secondary school actually complete their studies.

Those who have the resources do very well, can attend the illustrious private schools in the capital and enjoy a top-rate education, which invariably leads to studying in a university in a western country. Sadly, those on the other end of the scale struggle to benefit from what is published as “free” government education.

One of the main pillars of the mentoring programme, after targeting the most vulnerable children at risk of street life, is to get them into full-time education.  Yes it costs in terms of the time it takes the team to convince parents to allow their children to go to school, visiting the schools and helping them understand the specific needs of our children and then to help to motivate the children daily to keep studying.  Furthermore the mentoring centres are one of the few places the children can go to get help with the mountain of homework they are given.

I have had to collect many children over the years from their homes/shacks, get them up and ready, give them breakfast and take them to school.  This is now done by the team and I realise the commitment that this takes for the first couple of weeks of the school year to get kids used to the rhythm of going to school, but it’s a commitment we have to make in order to help kids realise the potential of education to change their lives.

With 42% of the population of Guatemala made up of the Mayan indigenous people groups, the need to bring education to them is even more of a challenge. Since 90% of the children in our programme are coming from these groups, we know how difficult it is to engage them in school, but we do and the success rates are far beyond those of the national average.

I reflect on all this as I sit opposite Damaris and her boyfriend Alexander in San Martin, a smart bakery in a trendy area of Guatemala City.  I invited them for afternoon tea, a new concept for them both, but one they thoroughly enjoyed.  The afternoon out gave me the opportunity to understand how they are doing with their young daughter and review their studies.

Both Damaris and Alexander are now studying with us and trying to make something of their lives despite them both growing up in huge poverty and neglect and living in very humble conditions across from La Terminal in Guatemala City.

What makes me laugh is looking at the photo I took yesterday and what was written in Alexander´s t-shirt (photo below).  He was not aware of what it said and when I explained to him the text he too thought it was very funny as it is just the opposite of where his life is right now.

 

It seems only a few days ago that I sat with both of them at the end of 2022 and discussed education.  Damaris had dropped out due to the baby being born and then of embarrassment at returning to our centre with a baby.  Her culture is very different from ours and an unplanned pregnancy and one out of wedlock is not something her family or the elders would approve of.

It was easy to convince her of the need to return to studies as she was doing well before they had the baby and now she needed to ask permission from her 16-year-old boyfriend to return to the classroom.  Alexander agreed and Damaris smiled and it was clear she was keen to keep going and even reach the end of secondary school one day.

The biggest challenge was with Alexander who had made it clear that he would not return to school or consider any form of education.  He had done all he could to get to third grade in primary school, didn´t like it and was adamant that school was not for him.  So the conversation had to take a different approach and I looked at their little daughter and could see he was besotted with her.

Learning to be a husband and dad at 16 takes a lot of support and and he needed  a fair share of advice.  It also brings with it huge amounts of new responsibility as before “I could just take off with my mates after work and play football”, he tells me.  The transition from being a teenage boy to a dad was sudden and not one he enjoyed to begin with, but the role slowly grew on him and I have seen him mature so much over just a few months and I am very proud of all he has achieved.

I asked him what he wanted for his daughter and it was hard to stop him as he explained his dreams and hopes for her life.  I asked if she would go to school and he said, “of course”.  This was my opportunity to demonstrate to him how education could help her and him with the question “so what would happen when she comes home from school and needs help with her homework and you have to say you don´t know”.  He went blank and then burst into tears.  It hit home and the following week he messaged me and said he wanted to go back to school.

We are proud of all our kids and we know how hard it is for them to just get by.  For them to succeed it takes a lot of their resources, energy, time and real grit.  But they are achievers and I know will go on to great things.

No apologies for saying this again, but your support really does make the difference.  Without it we could not be here, could not support the kids who want to make a better choice for their life, could not offer them the daily homework help they need and be there to go to school presentations and events and rejoice with them as they celebrate their school results.  Our partnership is vital and you are appreciated.  Thank you.

Monday 18th September 2023

I was reminded yesterday of one of the outcomes of the mentoring programme when Linda, a visitor from the UK, and I dropped 5 excited boys home after a mentoring session at the CasaClub centre in Santa Faz, Guatemala City.

Like many first-time visitors to Santa Faz there is the challenge of walking back up the mountainside afterwards, as the altitude and numerous steps really take their toll on even the fittest of folk.

The last child to be dropped off is 10-year-old Jefferson, who lives with his large family in a tin shack on the mountainside. His innocence and gentleness has won the hearts of the other boys in the group he is in for Sunday mentoring, as he was the last one to join the established group and I wondered if he would be accepted and understood by the other boys.

One thing I have seen over the years is how isolated so many of these families are, despite them living near each other.  Trust is not easily won in Santa Faz and given the violent history of the area it is no wonder why many work hard to keep themselves to themselves.

This past week has been extremely violent with 5 young people being killed over a 24-hour period, the last one a 15-year-old boy shot right behind our mentoring centre. Growing up here is not easy and every child will tell you of the latest killing like they are telling you that it rained yesterday.

Jefferson spends his time playing in the dirt outside his shack when he is not in school and was too shy to make friends or trust in others locally.  Today, however, is different and a pleasing sight to see as one of the boys in the group calls round Jefferson´s home not long after we had dropped him home.

Linda and I were still with Jefferson´s family as I needed to check on the health of his younger siblings due to a huge increase in dengue fever.  Linda was quite taken with the family and they proudly showed her their new cooker.  They have never had a cooker before and have been saving up for a long time and got a second-hand gas cooker and connected it to a small gas cylinder.  It has changed their lives and the children tell us that their food doesn´t smell of smoke now when they eat it.

The discussion about the benefits of a gas cooker stopped when Jose Antonio arrived.  He is also 10 and is in the Sunday mentoring group.  I have been concerned for him for the last two years as he spent increasing amounts of time on the streets due to his mum working long hours and not being able to get home in the afternoon to let him into their tin shack after school.  Thankfully that situation has dramatically changed and now his parents are back together and he is much more stable and wanted to invite Jefferson to his home to play.

This is a new concept for many of the children but one that we are used to in the UK as kids invite their friends around to play after school or stay for sleep-overs.  Here in Sana Faz the fear of others tends to prevent such invitations and children get used to isolation.

But the new friendships that have been developed in mentoring are breaking down those barriers and helping the children see that trust in others is possible and so Jefferson, with a huge smile on his face, is given permission to head off with Jose Antonio and his mum.

I watch the two boys climb up the mountainside and you can see the joy and contentment and one can´t help feel proud.  Friendships like these are not easy to build but I can see so many more discovering that having trusted friends is a good thing and is another one of the developmental assets we hope to see the children become stronger in over the next few years.

Thursday 19th October 2023

Some days I see here the undeniable need for change in a society that has lost its way and where there is a silent congratulation for just existing one more day. With all that we are seeing of war, death and suffering around the world it is no wonder why one can feel helpless and even powerless.

Yesterday I walked with one of the young adults we have helped get off the rubbish dump to his humble home in the middle of Guatemala City´s largest developing slum, La Limonada.  I first walked into this slum over 30 years ago when most of the now concrete structures were just tin shacks and where a highly contaminated river runs through the middle.  The smell is often overpowering, but you do actually get used to it.  The enormity of the place and its hidden need is what can make you feel helpless as very few Guatemalans would come down here.

The young man I was walking with I have known since he was 11 years-of-age and have seen a huge transformation in him over the years.  From a kid growing up on a rubbish dump, doing drugs and involved in things that adults shouldn´t be doing, to now – being a great example of change.  It was just fun walking with him and chatting about his life and family.

The reason for the visit today is to see his brother who is going through a tough time and needs some support.  I have had him on my mind and heart for many months and have something I need to share with him that I feel God wants him to know about.

Walking closer to La Limonada you notice a change in the environment.  The smarter cars are fewer, there are no police around and the feel of the place is increasingly oppressive.  We walk close to the Ministerio Publico (Public Ministry) where there are a hundred or more protesters demanding the resignation of the Attorney General.  The protests have grown substantially over the last three weeks and have resulted in blockades throughout the country.  The shouts of the protesters can be heard all around as we begin to walk down the numerous steps into the far side of La Limonada.

I am somewhat of an anomaly here as it is noticeable that people stop and stare.  A man sees me coming and grabs hold of his door and pulls it almost closed while keeping a close eye on me as I pass.  A lady is sitting on the crumbling pavement and talking out loud to herself while pointing at the figures that she must be seeing in her head. We continue to walk down the many steps and the “aroma” from the river begins to arouse my senses.

As we near the bottom of the steps I find a man, probably in his late 30s huddled over a piece of tin foil together with a boy aged around 12.  Both seemed to be getting high on crack and the boy leans further into the foil and lets out a groan. Two ladies say good afternoon as they hurry past and then I meet three men drinking alcohol on a corner and make myself known by making a big deal of saying hi to them.

We walked into the alleyway where his house is and I am asked to wait until he ensures all is OK and I can climb up the few steps to see his brother.  I wait and take a couple of photos while the dipping sun was casting its golden glow over the sprawling landscape.

I am now invited to come into his simple house and spend time with David.  The last time I saw him he was 15 and had just become a dad and had decided to leave the local gang and try and make something of his life so that he can support his girlfriend and baby.

His smile is huge and infectious and I am pleased to see him too and we go inside and sit down, he on the bed and me on a plastic chair.  A skinny cat rubs up against me and seems totally oblivious to its role in the home as a small mouse runs along the cable that hangs loosely from the ceiling and disappears into a hole in the block wall.

David was a lot of fun to be with and I first met him on the rubbish dump in La Terminal.  He tells me he is nearly 10 and has a layer of dirt over his skin from working there in the heat of the day.  His shabby clothes and rotting trainers were covered in rubbish.  David smiled and then began to question me about who I was, what I was doing, why I was doing it and what I thought about the people on the rubbish dump.  It was not long before he started appearing at our mentoring centre, which wasn´t yet open as workmen were working around the clock to try and get it finished before Christmas that year.

David always had that inquisitive nature and was always full of questions about why things were the way they were.  I liked that and could see in him a desire for learning and so helped get him into school and could see he would thrive in an academic environment.  The ups and downs of his time in school are something we can leave to one side for now as I know he has huge potential but seems resigned for now with drugs, stealing and sleeping during the day.

My message to him had been burning in my heart for many weeks and when I started to tell him what I had on my heart, tears began to stream down his face.  He could see himself, as in a mirror, that the person he was now was not what he dreamed of when he was 10.  I am now hoping he will work with us and go into a rehab centre as I know his potential is huge.  It´s like I see him in an environment he was never meant to be.  I feel so strongly he is destined for greater things and leave, after praying for him, and begin the climb back up the hill.

There was only one gun shot that rang out across the slum as I walked back up and then stopped at the top to take a photo.  The sun was now setting but there was enough light for one photo and time to just look and think and appreciate what I have and then begin the long walk back home.

It´s not the safest place in the city and Sony, the SKDGuatemala Director, wrote to me later when I let him know I was home safely with the words “wow, that is a very dangerous place”.

The danger is never an issue, it´s the sadness that gets you.  The hauntingly poignant image of that boy groaning as the drugs hit him will stick with me for a long time.  I, at least, can go home to a place that is safe and I know that no one will break in during the night and where I won´t see children on the streets doing drugs or wandering around lost and without hope.  I know the team here will do all they can to help David and I am hopeful that my parting words will have had an impact.  There is still lots to do!

Saturday 10th February 2024

Javier (photo: pink football shirt) is 10 and last week I was with him in the mentoring centre in Guatemala City and commenting on his really cool football outfit.  His matching shorts and shirt together with his football socks made him look like a real pro.  I have known Javier since he was a baby and seen him grow up in the most challenging of circumstances.

Today he was happy and gave me a huge hug and told me how much he was looking forward to us all heading off to the local park to play football.  Football was his passion; it was his life and it continues to be his outlet for how he feels about the rest of his life.

Getting children involved in sports is not only good for their physical fitness, not only good at stimulating the production of endorphins that makes them feel good, but is a social activity that forces them to mix with and develop relationships with others.

Javier was buzzing and couldn´t sit down.  He wanted to leave right away, but we had to wait half an hour until all the other children had arrived and we could make the count, line them up, run over a few norms and then head off for the 10-minute walk to the park.  Today, he just had to be the boy who carried the football as he was keen to show us his tricks.

While we were waiting I asked him to sit next to me and tell me how he was doing.  I hadn´t seen him for a few months, due to being in the UK for the Radio Christmas project, and was wanting to tell him how much I thought he had grown in that time.  Kids love that, but it was true, he had shot up quite a bit and he smiled and looked down at his trainers.

I asked him again how he was doing and watched as he struggled to answer.  He tried to open his mouth but it seemed like something was taking away his words and he concentrated more on his trainers.  I left some time for him to think and feel and as I did he began to cry.

I was not expecting tears.  He seemed so happy about playing football.  But the reality of his world outside the mentoring centre must have come crashing back into his little mind and the emotion of it all also flooded over him as this wave of hurt, pain, suffering and rejection made him shake a little.

“That´s OK”, I told him.  “Sometimes it is good to cry and get it out”.  His football shirt was now being used to cover his face as he wiped away his tears and sniffed a bit and then started to speak.  His main reason for being upset was that he missed his older brother and sister.  They had both left separately for the US over the last few years and had gone through quite an ordeal to make it to the border alone.  They both now live with distant family but had been calling a lot recently saying they were unhappy and could they come home.

Because they had gone to the US he had to step up and help his mum run the family business of selling clothes in the streets whilst looking after his 5-year-old brother, who is also attending the mentoring centre. 

Javier talks about how hard he feels it is for him just to keep going each day.  He talks about the place where he lives and the many prostitutes outside day and night and how it makes him feel unsafe.  He sees many like his dad passed out in the streets, doing drugs or mugging people.  At least he feels safe in the centre.

The situation is complicated and the extreme abuse, neglect and suffering that his brother and sister went through before they left would make even the hardest person break down and cry.  Now it´s up to him and he feels the weight of it all upon his 10-year-old shoulders.  Sometimes he just needs to come in and cry and then he can cope again.

He hugs me once more and I stand up and encourage him to get to the front of the queue for football.  Half an hour had passed and we had shared a special moment.  He kept looking back and smiling at me as we walked to the park in the afternoon sunshine and upon arrival at the park was keen to show me his talents.

Javier is one of so many kids who just need that special time now and again and I am so proud of the team at the centre as I know it is not easy to be there day-in-day-out for nearly 60 children.  But they also have a passion and many skills and I just love watching them and seeing how they provide that much-needed therapy without even realising it.

Thanks to your support we will keep being there for them all and will continue to rejoice with the Javiers as they grow in resilience and become stronger to face all the world throws at them.

Saturday 27th January 2024

Every time I visit the rubbish dump I leave with the same feeling of desperation.  I look around at the clamorous corner of La Terminal where tons of rotting rubbish are piled up and the stench clings to you and invades your nostrils to where you can´t help but make the choice to breathe through your mouth not your nose.

There are about 25 families currently going through the rubbish in order to find tin, plastic and paper they can recycle.  They also search for food, anything that can be put to one side and later cooked up for dinner.  Young children both work and play here and are constantly looking around as they are aware of the dangers.  Dangers come from the council JCB digger that drives in at speed to compact the rubbish and now again scoop it up and take it to a waiting truck.  There is also the danger of drug dealers, gang members and others who could be a threat.  There is a lot that the young eyes continually scan for while they stoop over the rubbish or invent games to play using what they have around them.

Today, however, I left with a feeling of hope.  Why hope?  Well, I was with an incredible team of volunteers who offer their time to work with Puerta de Esperanza (Door of Hope) – a ministry that SKD supports and one that reaches at-risk children and youth in La Terminal and surrounding areas.

I remember when this ministry started and remember meeting up with Jomara, the founder, to discuss her dreams and vision to start to help the kids on the rubbish dump. Since then the dream has become a reality and one that reaches about 250 vulnerable children every week.  Not only is the Puerta de Esperanza ministry working with the kids on the dump, their contact with the children and the families here has led them to other areas nearby, where children live at huge social risk.

It is great not to have the responsibility for the work, just to come as a visitor, to watch, encourage and see what this incredible team of people do.  They inspire me and knowing some of them, like Jacobo, confirms to me that this work is in great hands. 

I have known Jacobo (photo above: leading the kids) since he was a small boy when I used to visit the dump with the street team.  He lived in a tin shack opposite the dump and would spend hours sitting outside watching what we did and slowly would come and get involved in the activities.  He is now part of the team and is such a wonder to watch as he works with the children.

For those who might have missed the video we made of their work for Radio Christmas, you can view it here.

Some of the funds raised on Radio Christmas will go to help support this outreach during 2024 and I am sure that due to their work the feeling of desperation many feel who live and work on the dump will turn to hope and to change.  Your support for this work really makes a difference and changes lives, thank you.

Monday 25th March 2024

Today we enter Holy Week and prepare for the Easter celebrations and the completion of Lent.  It´s a time for reflection and for new beginnings and with this mind I reflect on the work in Guatemala and look forward to what is to come for us, as a charity, when I return from my sabbatical.

The word sabbatical comes from the Hebrew word `Sabat´ and means a break from work. My three-month sabbatical starts this week and it will be an interesting experience taking such a long break away from the work in Central America and focussing my attention on other things for a while.

For the last 32 years I have been working with the children and youth at risk in Guatemala and Honduras and can see how this work can impact upon one´s life. One can´t help but be affected, in some way, by the trauma of others.  But, at the same time, I can honestly say that there is nothing more rewarding than feeling that a huge chapter is now being closed for me as exciting doors are opening and new adventures will soon begin.

On my return in late June to Guatemala, I will continue to live there, but my role will change quite dramatically as a new Guatemalan Board have now taken on the responsibility of running and caring for the SKDGuatemala work.  God has provided an excellent group of committed and supportive people who will now administer the vision and mission and ensure we keep focussed on the needs of the children.  I won´t be working so much with the children as before but will be looking to see how the development of our young leaders will help provide the first fruits of the greater vision to reach into other countries and impact the lives of the street-living children around the world.

I will be committed to developing a new global mapping strategy that will help us identify where in the world children are still living on the streets, how many are there and who is working with them.  This will inevitably lead to global strategies to reduce the numbers of children living like this and help states develop programmes to ensure their protection and safety.

Leaving behind the children is not easy, but when I see how much passion the local teams have to their wellbeing and how committed they are to keeping them safe and helping them thrive, I am moved and thankful to God for so many Guatemalans who have now taken on the baton and are running a great race.

Our kids are survivors and don´t need to be reminded of where they and their families have come from, they know that all too well.  We need to keep motivating them to see the bright horizon of possibilities and opportunities ahead and help them take the steps that will lead to growth, happiness and success.

It is extremely humbling to watch the older youth / young adults who have grown up through the mentoring programme and who are now leading the children.  One of them, 15-year-old Melvin, was telling me recently of how he feels he connects with the children. “No one can fully understand what each child has gone through and is going through” he tells me, “but we all know what it is like for us and we just know when a child needs a hug or needs to be left alone”.  He is insightful and we talk further on the subject and how it is that we have never heard any of the children or youth even make fun of another child because they don´t have shoes, don´t have underwear, have a strong odour, or show signs of abuse and neglect.  Melvin tells me: “We just know”, and it is this knowing that leads to some very special work.  It is very emotional to watch this happen and to see the love that is transmitted between the older and young children.

I can now enjoy the break my mind, spirit and body need and know that when I come back all will be well and maybe even in a much better place – that would be exciting!

Thank you all for your prayers, for your messages of support and especially for your support which we will need even more in the coming months.  Lives are being changed and I hope you will keep your eye on our social media feeds and be encouraged to see what your support is doing to reach over 650 vulnerable children in Central America.

Will catch you on the flip side in early July!