Month 3 and we are in Nicaragua!! Our whole squad is now in Granada, one of the touristy parts of this country. As our team arrived tired from traveling on 2 different buses and a taxi for 5 hours to meet our squad, we finally sat down at the first place we saw in the square for some lunch. Within the first 5 minutes we were bombarded with kids coming up to us asking for money, people selling sunglasses, whistles, hammocks, etc. Our team jokes about how we don't need to worry if we missed out on buying some sunglasses because someone will come up to us in the next minute to sell us some.
At the end of our meal, a little girl about 7 years old came up to us with no shoes on, dirty clothes and begged for our left over food. Rachel gladly gave her the left over bread from her hamburger. I felt like I wanted to give anything to this girl. Then the little girl ran off with every last crumb from the plate. Our team walked over to another cafe where we sat, got fresh smoothies and chatted with another team. Within the next 5 minutes we saw about 4 more kids coming up to us asking for our food and money. Once again, I looked at them heartbroken, but knew if I gave every kid something I would be completely broke.
After walking around the town for a couple hours we sat at a restaurant and while reading the menu we came upon something really fascinating. These kids on the streets wanting to sell me grass hearts, cigars, asking for food and money gave me a new perspective of this real life and town. These kids have homes, they have families, they have food, they go to school. Is our "feeling bad" for these kids really helping? No. We are enabling them.
From giving into these kids they have come to realize that people (especially tourists) are like walking ATM's and they can get anything they want from us. They think they are in control. A lot of these kids' parents send these kids out on purpose because they can bring in more money than themselves. Some of these kids are beat by their parents if they don't bring in a certain amount. From enabling these kids they then turn to drugs (a lot of starting with sniffing glue, which literally deteriorates the brain), alcohol, prostitution, violence and more. Granada is not the "worst off" city. Even in the poorest cities, you rarely see anything like what we saw here.
This is such a huge tourist city and to be honest I don't know why. Last night I sat and just observed soaking everything in. I saw a lot within a half hour. A man of about 60 years old sat at a table in the town center selling cigars while we saw young girls in their 20's with booty shorts, skin tight shirts, platform heels sitting by him as he talked/touched them inappropriately. One of my friends on the squad was approached by a little boy of about 7 years old, selling the grass hearts, that asked him "quieres chica?" My friend caught on and realized the little boy was sent by the older man to find men to purchase these women.
Yesterday, a young girl that had come up to me about 4 times already came and asked me for money. I finally looked her straight in the eye and talked to her in Spanish, "no, I will not give you money but you are a beautiful girl and you need to remember this. You are better than this and you can have a better future ahead of you." As I said this she stared at me with teary eyes. Then I said, "I will not give you money but I will pray for you." As soon as I said that, she shook her head and right away said, "no" as she walked backwards really fast. I asked if she believed in God and I would pray for her. She kept shaking her head and saying "no" even when I motioned for her to come over. This broke my heart.
I felt the weight of this town. It was a heavy feeling even as I walked up and down the streets in the morning and when I went to bed at night. But it gave me such a bigger heart for these kids. Why would anyones parents tell them it is ok to do what they are doing, to beat their kids, I feel so sorry for them because most of them don't know better, they think it is the way of life to survive. I knew I personally couldn't change each kid, teenager, pimp, prostitute there, but I know that God is a good God even in the most corrupt towns where it seems like the light only dims.
We are going back to Granada at the end of the month…let's see how the second experience will be.
