We never seem to see any little girls around Huauticocha, only little boys. First in church. Then working with us. Then eating with us. Then hanging out with us. Then coming to our English classes.
Our first little boy was Braulio (Bradly in English). He is 15 and goes with us everywhere. He is a great help and a good conversation buddy. Next we have Juan who is 13 and is a hard worker but likes to have fun. We also have Victor (I can’t spell his real name, so this is what I call him). He is 8 years old. While I get 8 shovels of rocks in my wheel barrow, this little kid can take 6. How unfair is that. We also have Giovanni who is 9 and as of yesterday is missing some of his index finger due to an accident with a machete. We also have Fernando who is 10 and is a jokster. This is our posse I guess you could call it.
Now I would like to share some stories with you of my adventures with these boys. Juan is a sweetheart, absolutely precious. Two days ago, Sam and I were struggling carrying our rubber boots, and he offered to carry them for us. And though it was a burdensome task for him, he did it joyfully and without complaint. And today he got us flowers. We have a flower vase on our table and walking home he asked if we wanted some, and next thing we know, Emily, Sam and I all have flowers. And he loves to spit cacoa (what makes chocolate) seeds at us, or fake us out to believe he has cacoa seeds when he really doesn’t. He has our heart. No lie.
Bralio is mature, but also knows how to have fun. Yesterday during work, I raced him with an empty wheelbarrow, and of course I won!! He is a hard worker; he fills that wheel barrow up to the top and then runs down the hill. I have no idea how he does it! I call him a show-off, in English, that way he is not able to understand me. He went with us to la Puente (bridge) and he had a lot of fun hanging out with the gringos.
We call all these boys the ‘Jungle Boys’. They have grown up in the Amazon and you can definitely tell. But I have coined a new term for them. The lost boys. For those of you who have seen Peter Pan, this will sound familiar. Yesterday during lunch, there were us 6 gringos and also 4 Ecuadorian boys. While eating, it made me think that we are like Peter Pan who takes in the lost boys and gives them a home. Though these ‘Jungle Boy’s all have homes of their own, we are creating relationships with them and showing them God’s love through work, fun, and eating. So we now have the Lost Boys of the Amazon.
Eating Lunch with some of the Jungle Boys. Braulio, Giovanni, Felipe and Juan. Taken by Emily.
