Fernando and Alfredo

Fernando and Alfredo are two 12 year old boys who were in La Policia all last week. I spent quite a bit of time with them just chatting and playing games. There were between 6 and 9 kids there every day last week.

These two boys just did not want me to leave. There are both great kids but have had lots of problems in their lives as have all the kids here. Fernando had been sent to work in a brick works every day for who knows how long. He also had a hard time at home so needless to say he ran away and refuses to go back. The police seem to have accepted that he will not be able to go back home.

Because he was working without any protective clothes or goggles his eyes are now damaged. To what extend I don't know. The police asked if I could help so called Dr Grober and he is going to arrange things for him. I've left some money with MN to pay his medical fees. Hopefully it will turn out to be treatable and he will be ok.

I hope to keep in touch with both the boys when they move to a home. Ricardo at MN will try to keep me posted on where they go to stay. It would be good if they went to same place.

It's Alfredo's drawing that I've posted. I asked him to draw a picture for me showing where he lives and who he knows there. The guy in the picture is his father with the big hat. He didn't tell me much about him. I like that he has shown a happy sun, though I did have to ask if there was not a sun to be seen near his house, so maybe he does not see it as sunny at all. Maybe he was just trying to please me.

So that's my time at La Policia finished yet again. There's never a dull moment there. Hope to be back there some day soon.