So I'm finally packed a ready to go and will be flying out to El Salvador tomorrow morning at 6am. I'm a little nervous since I don't really know what to expect, but I know that things will turn out for the best. I am excited to be able to use my Spanish and mentor these kids and teenagers, hopefully building some lasting relationships with them.
For those of you who don't know. I will be in El Salvador from June 1 to June 28 working with an organization called Orphan Helpers. I will be working with youth-at-risk, orphans, gang members and juvenile delinquents ages 7 to 21 teaching English, mentoring, and helping to run sports clinics. For four weeks, I will be living with 15 or so of the older boys ages 15-21 in a halfway home called Faith House. At the Faith House, the kids have already been through the state sponsored program and are now receiving job training. I'm really pumped about this part of the work and plan on doing a little bit of profiling on the kids because the organization wants to begin setting them up with sponsorships in the States.
Some of y'all are probably worried for my safety after hearing the types of kids I will be working with, but don't worry because I won't be alone. There are 3 other college age interns traveling with me--Teddy, KT, and Chad. I will be working with Chad in the mornings teaching English to the boys in the Faith House, and with KT and Teddy doing sports in the afternoon at a center known as CISNA. CISNA is a government sponsored facility that cares for several hundred youth who have been either abandoned, abused, neglected, or incarcerated amongst many other numerous things. Finally, I will be working on Friday's in a detention center known as Ilobasco. As of now, I am unsure of what Chad and I will be doing there exactly.
I have had some experience working with gang members and youth-at-risk in the Latino community in Nashville, so I'm pretty excited to learn more about the causes of the cycles of youth violence and poverty in this community especially as it relates to gangs and what can be done in the US as well as what is being done in El Salvador to aliviate this problem and rehabilitate gang members. I hope to be able to use this experience to springboard and initiative in Nashville to do the same as part of my Ingram service work.
In other news, I found out today one of my spanish-speaking friends from Mexico, who I spend a lot of time with and is illegal and one of the people I mentor for Ingram service, was pulled over by the cops the other day for entering an intersection while the light was yellow. It turned red while he was in the middle. He doesn't have a license and was given a court day on the 16th of June. I'm worried about him and his family. And sad that he could and probably will be deported. I feel pretty helpless and can't really do anything because I'm traveling. I really care about him. Keep him and his family in your prayers. That'd mean a lot to me.
So this looks to be an exciting summer, and I will try to keep you all updated as much as possible. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers because I'll need it for sure, and feel free to contact me; my answers may not be lengthy, but I'll try my best to respond.
