This month I am living in El Alto, Bolivia. My house sits at 14,000 feet on a mountain top. This is a curious city that spreads far and wide; made up of short brick houses. Doors and gates are either thick metal or jagged tin. Most walls are topped off with graffiti. Vehicles and humans are a rare site when walking around the block. For such a large place it is strangely desolate except for the plethora of shaggy street dogs.
Meet Lukessa. My street dog pet of the month. She is young and sweet and greets me everyday.
If you walk out my front door and look to the right, the road seems to run into the sky a couple blocks down. If you venture towards your gaze you will find yourself standing on the edge of a 3,000 foot cliff. The city of La Paz sits below and the snow capped Andes loom on the other side. Sometimes we take the Telepherico Roho (cable cars) down to La Paz to catch a bit of a break from the altitude up here. Simply walking down the hallway or having a conversation can leave you out of breath and dizzy.
Clouds press down closer to me than they have ever been before. This mountain is literally in the sky. The air is both very thin and very cold. Highs range around 50 degrees, except for when the daily hail storm passes through in the afternoons or it decides to drizzle rain for six hours (which is nearly every day). Mountain weather at this elevation has proven to be very temperamental. Blue skys change to black storms and visa-versa quickly.
No, my house does not have any heat, however, I do have 7 fleece blankets on my bed plus my sleeping bag which cocoons me in the bottom layer. Sleeping in a beanie has become normal.
Being partnered with another team and a couple squadleaders this month means there are 14 of us living together. Each day I wake up for breakfast at 8 am. Always a piece of fresh baked bread fetched from the little store down the street with some scrambled eggs sandwiched in it. We boil large pots of water for half an hour and then run it through a filter system for safe drinking.
By 8:50 am I am walking around the block with 5 others to the boy’s home of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center I am working at. The house is called Adulam, which translates to Refuge. The other half of us are at the girl’s and children’s homes. The teenagers living in these homes are seeking help from problems such as drug and alcohol addictions, eating disorders, and prostitution. Some have come off of the streets from being cocaine dealers at the age of 13. Most have no family that cares about them and some have unsettled debt with head dealers or pimps that occasionally show up at the front gates looking for them.
The girl’s and boy’s facilities are locked down 24/7. No one gets in or out without the allowance of a staff member’s key or the unpermitted scaling of a fence.
Through the mornings we work on miscellaneous projects like cleaning, sanding furniture, organizing the ware house, and cooking up lunch with the boys in the kitchen. Lunch is at 12:30 and always begins with a bowl of hot soup and some tea. After lunch consists of kitchen clean up. The rest of the afternoon is split up into classes, chores, bracelette making, doctor check-ins, rap battles, tea time, and as many games of half court basketball as we can manage in the thin air.
The boys have been more than easy to make friends with. I know they struggle with some really heavy temptations and are all in different stages of a life change. Some have probably come a long way in addictions while others are more or less seeking shelter here while attempting to have drugs snuck in somehow or cooked up in the kitchen.
One boy has built enough trust that he is permitted to goto church each Sunday with a staff member and two of us. None of the other boys are Christians…. yet. The organization models prayer before each meal, bible lessons, and worship music in the house. Our hope this month is to model God’s love towards these young men. Maybe during the last week we are here they will want to hear our stories and have us pray for them.
In the mean time, we are here to help keep them busy, positive, and help the staff keep an eye out for any drug making or rule breaking.
In all honesty, I never look forward to the cold air or shortness of breath that comes from getting out of bed each morning. I could do without the hail, cold rain, and lack of heat. These guys are worth it though. I never dread spending the 7-9 hours in their house with them each day. I love helping to occupy their minds and time with games of basketball that may include getting rained on or accidentally busted in the nose. To make it more interesting, my lack of Spanish speaking leaves us to communicate with hand gestures and made up words. I am thankful that most of the others on our teams speak it well and can fill in the gaps.
These guys may be 13 to 20 year olds who have just come in from a rough street life and bad acts, but when I get knocked down on the court they are the first to extend a hand and pick me up. When we are hanging out we are usually laughing together. They are locked inside of this compound trying to face their largest mistakes and be better and I get to be their friend. I know that what I see of them only skims the surface of who they are and what they are fighting, but I see the good in them.
I will not be posting photos of these boys for respect of their privacy and vulnerability, but I would love it if you would join me in prayer over the next couple of weeks for them. Pray for their addictions to be broken and those desires to be taken away. Pray for safe places to open up for them to call home when they are done at the center, and for them to have revelations from the Lord that helps them accept Him into their hearts.
