Sometimes... something beautiful happens...

There is always some need here or there in Nicaragua.
Everybody has seen the poverty and problems in Haiti now, after the earthquake.
Nicaragua is (according to the United Nations) even poorer than Haiti.
For years now, we've been helping out whenever and however we can.
And a couple of days ago, I received a beatiful message from a boy that once thought that his world had collapsed.
He and his brother were abandoned by their mother when they were 14 and 12 years old.
The younger broter has (had) a lot of problems.
He's totally addicted to glue... even had a kidney failure a couple of times.
The older brother was already making arrangements for his funural.
Lucklily he's still alive, but in sad conditions.

The older brother got offered lots of opportunities to sniff, smoke or swallow.
He never ever gave in... just say NO helps.
He's never even touched a cigarette or a beer.
But after being abandoned, he lost his faith and confidence in humanity.
I met him three years ago, and ever since I've tried to help and support him.
It took a while before he trusted my good intentions, but finally he did.
I took him to a colegio to enroll him in classes.
He got food, clothes, we studied English, ...
He had dreams, fears... like everybody else.
His worst fear was to die in the gutters of Granada being an uneducated old man who hadn't had a chance to live.
We talked about lots of possibilities, one being the army.
This week, I received an email from him letting me know that he finished his first training in the Nicaraguan army.
He is very proud of himself.
I bet the training was very hard, but he made it nevertheless.
He's got a full time job in the army now and earns a $100 a month, the same a policeman earns here.
Even his mother, who abandoned him 7 years ago, went over to greet him and tell him how proud she was about her son.
When the word got out about David, I received this email:

You already knew that your kindness and holding onto hope about some of these guys might pay off some day.  In David's case, maybe it did, Jan.  I am sending this email to let you know that I noticed, am proud of you, and to have you as a friend, and one day maybe David will do something important and heroic because someone showed some faith in him. That someone is you!

This  really touched me. It is always good to see that something good happens to somebody.
It is not always evident for street children to achieve something in life.
Getting a structured life, responsibility, a place to stay and a steady income was something that seemed impossible to achieve. But he did it anyway... Congratulations David!