Latest Update: February 2008
Dear little Robert is one of the kids who have lately joined the Recreo program. He is a ten year-old boy who is in fifth grade. You may see him wandering around his neighborhood, very peaceful, and alert in case he bumps into any of his friends to talk and share his daily routine. Maybe just to share with him for a while and not feeling so lonely…because living with parents who spend most of the time outside the house, it makes you feel like you don’t have them.
Day by day we become more aware that parents’ absence is one of the most common realities in this sector, mainly because of working problems. Who does he share his happiness, anecdotes, achievements and even his dreams with? If nobody else spends enough time with him. However, time passes and he knows and assumes that life isn’t easy and that his parents make a great effort to bring food home, where his brothers also live. For his parents it hasn’t been easy to get through their poor situation, on the contrary, his father, a man with barely no education, just primary school, must go out of town to look for better job opportunities to support his family.
Some weeks ago, little Robert was in one of the Recreo activities, and after he did his homework, at lunch time, which for the kids and specially for him is the most eagerly awaited time of the day, all the kids started to eat their food as usual, and in the twinkling of an eye, we realized that little Robert didn’t have any food in his plate. That really called our attention and made us wonder what had happened. When we talked to him, we realized that all his food was in his pockets and that he hadn’t eaten anything. That was very strange! Because he is a boy with a very good appetite. Immediately, we asked him about that situation, and he told us he was keeping the food to take it home. He thought it was unfair that only he could eat well and his family couldn’t.
This noble gesture touched deeply in our hearts and it made us think about that his family situation is worst as we imagined it. In one interview with his father, he told us about little Robert’s qualities, which make him a very special boy at home. He is a son who is always worried about his mother welfare and very responsible with the housework. At present, he is one of the most committed boys with the activities of the program. He is always very punctual to participate in the workshops with the other kids. He tries very hard to achieve the best results in school and he is strongly attached to teachers. He needs company, support and somebody who fosters his skills to become a man with education. He is very close, awaiting to share more of his life with somebody who wants to listen to and live with him. For Recreo, that’s our challenge
