On Wednesday we visited El El Jordán, which is a place street kids can go to when they want to turn their lives around. At El El Jordán, there are people the kids can talk to. They also can come to learn something practical, like typing or macrame (a type of knitting or sewing), that they can use to earn money. There is also a dentist’s facility and a nice library. I spent time searching for Waldo in a “ñDondñ esta Wally?” book.
A few days before, while walking within the first circle (primer anillo) of Santa Cruz, we passed a few street kids. One of them called Yoli by name and we went back to talk with him. His name was Angel and he recognized Yoli from either El El Jordán or a boys’ home (I forget which). He wanted to contact Corina Clements, who runs El El Jordán, so Yoli gave him her phone number. Hopefully he will get in touch with her.
I spent some time talking with Corina since she wants me to help them with two brochures. One of the brochures is for “Jericho” — the name they’ve given to an expansion project. The facilities at El El Jordán are very nice, but they’ve outgrown the space. Corina and the others have raised funds to purchase the house and property next door, but they need money to pay for demolition and construction of a new facility that will connect to El El Jordán. So I will try to design a brochure that tells about this need, something she can distribute to churches and people who express interest in it. El El Jordán has a webpage here if you’d like to learn more about what they do.
We ate lunch in Corina’s apartment with Kelly, a girl from Canada (many of the missionaries here are from Canada) who is working at El El Jordán for 5 months. She had previously spent a semester (or part of a semester?) in Guatemala through school. We reheated some leftovers… some kind of pasta casserole that tasted good, and fresh green beans. I had a lot of green beans because I haven’t been eating many vegetables in recent days, since they aren’t always safe.
In the afternoon we worked and then had an early dinner (6:30pm). It was very nice. Then Yoli left a little later and I did some laundry. But I didn’t get it all done soon enough… so I had to take my wet white clothes and hang them up in my room to air dry. In the future I will do the laundry in the morning so I don’t have to worry about being locked out. 🙂
Checked out the website for El Jordan, Josh. I am amazed at what God is doing through His faithful. What a worthwhile ministry to support. Thanks for opening our eyes to the need. It’s so cold here – we only had 16 children in gracekids last night (and 7 grown-ups!). I know “Mr. Josh” is missed!
Carolyn
Sorry to hear you were ill, but overall, it sounds like you’re having the experience of a lifetime! I’ve been getting some positive feedback on your column. One of the other opinion shapers called me today for a deadline extension, and he mentioned how much he liked the column. Hey, maybe that could be your job — you can promote North County! I’m sure Big Bob Lowery could use a PR guy 🙂 Anyway, I’ve saved a few copies for you. Take care. Hi, Yoli!
Hi, Josh…glad you are getting your stomach back. Your account is still captivating. I’m here at an almost empty UMSL today working on an annual report. Your opinion shaper was right on target.