He is four years old, his older sister is 6 and his younger brother is 2. Their mother is so intensely sick that she has been put in the hospital. He visits her once, and remembers the trip, but not her face, nothing else about her, and after one month, she has passed away. She hasn’t even reached her 30th birthday.
His father doesn’t know what to do, he doesn’t have work and he is desperate… so he leaves.
The kids crowd into a small home with their aunt, and her children, and other cousins, but there isn’t much money to feed everyone. That’s where NPH comes in. Maudiel, his big sister, little brother and two cousins apply to NPH and become five of the original NPH Nicaragua children. It is 1992.
Here in 2007, Maudiel will turn 19 next month and he is working at the offices for his year of service. He has grown up with family, brother, sister and cousins, who are all still at NPH attending school. Maudiel plays league soccer each weekend with a group of guys from the neighborhood and is dedicated to the work he does every day in the office.
His father doesn’t know what to do, he doesn’t have work and he is desperate… so he leaves.
The kids crowd into a small home with their aunt, and her children, and other cousins, but there isn’t much money to feed everyone. That’s where NPH comes in. Maudiel, his big sister, little brother and two cousins apply to NPH and become five of the original NPH Nicaragua children. It is 1992.
Here in 2007, Maudiel will turn 19 next month and he is working at the offices for his year of service. He has grown up with family, brother, sister and cousins, who are all still at NPH attending school. Maudiel plays league soccer each weekend with a group of guys from the neighborhood and is dedicated to the work he does every day in the office.
But there is even more to Maudiel than just how he currently fills his hours. He is incredibly intelligent and because he didn’t grow up working on a farm or selling gum on a streetcorner to help support an overflowing home like so many children in Nicaragua, he has an education that will allow him to go to a university when he finishes secondary in two years..
Because of NPH, his natural talent and hard work, he not only made it to the present, he is among priveledged few in Nicaragua that actually has a future.
One side note, in some of my earlier posts, I called Maudiel by his middle name - Alejandro. He had originally introduced himself by that name because he knew it was easier to remember for us gringos.
3 comments:
I love that picture of you too! Tonight I attended a Friends of the Orphans event with kids from Mexico performing at a private school. As I watched the girls and boys dancing, my easily flipped back to my time working in Haiti, and then for the office in Bellevue, and of all the hopes and dreams I had for those kids. It is great to be part of it, despite the flaws and frustrations. Keep up the good work.
PS. Merissa Clyde says hi - she thinks you are the greatest!
Good! It's so wonderful for NPH to have so much support from so many great people!
That's a goog looking Nicaraguan Muaudiel. Fortunately I met a very handsome Nicaraguan Maudiel and I feel that my life had change forever. I feel his love... Nicaraguans are so attractive...
Thank you very much for worrying about their improvement in life. I do the same without expecting any reward.
Post a Comment