Keep praying for Fito


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Published: February 18th 2007
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Well we have had our ups and downs with Fito, the 18 year old who lives at the project. I mentioned a while back that I thought I had taken him over the edge with my tutoring. He was doing so well with the regular home work I was giving him. I figured if he wasn´t up for doing the homework, he just wouldn´t do it. That´s how I would imagine the kids in the states would react. Well he did it, and it was burning him out. For about 4 days he was really struggling with going back to the dump. He was also going to Masaya to buy glue, and apparently using it at the project.. I´ve been told he sold his new shoes I bought him to buy his glue. I know he doesn´t wear the shoes anymore. I asked him once but he said he left them at home. Someone else told me that one of the adults in the project bought the shoes! Yikes!

For about 4 days Fito was definitely acting strange. He was hiding behind the school, staying to himself, and was dressed quite sloppy. He wasn´t interested in studying with me. He was just hanging out goofing off with the kids and sometimes doing a bit of labor around the project. Several of the instructors were involved in engaging him in conversation. Some of the parents of the project wanted him to leave as they didn´t want him exposing his bad habits to their children. Gabriel was able to get stern with him and tell him to shape up, and stop playing games with us.

Then last week I don´t know what happened, but he shaped up! I had gone to the market with Manuela to buy food for two special meals we were planning, and I couldn´t believe my eyes. Dalila´s (one of our instructors) husband was cutting Fito´s hair. He usually wears it kind of long, with a little poney tail. Apparently Yamileth (another instructor) convinced him to get his hair cut. I think she felt that a new appearance may help him with his new behavior. He would not relate so much with the glue sniffing youth in the dump. ( Not that any of us ever look in a mirror! I´m kind of shocked when I do!). I could tell he was uneasy about his decision, as I was taking his picture and videotaping the process. We were all telling him how "guapo" he is now with his new look. So I can only observe what I saw, but I think the hair cut helped, along with alot of folks supporting him.

We are back studying together but I´m not giving him any homework. I also know that after about 45 min he is maxed out. If I´m lucky, we get back together in the afternoon for another 45 min. We are now doing addition and subtraction with large numbers, and I´m using flash cards on adding and subtracting the single digits. I try to make that a game. I remember how important it was to just memorize how to count by 5 or by 10, etc. This is good for me too, as I sometimes find myself counting on my fingers (don´t tell anyone!). Maybe next week I can start with a bit of multiplication. We´ll see. It will be my last week.

In terms of reading, he is doing great! On Thursday I had read a children´s book to Dahlila, to work on my pronunciation and understanding of Spanish. It was a cute book, had alot of repetition, and was a bit lengthy (it took about 20 min to read). On Friday I had suggested to Fito after our Math lesson that in the afternoon we might want to read this fun book, that I had read with Dalila the day before. Fito takes Drama with Dalila and the other 3rd graders, and perhaps has taught him other subjects in the past. It´s obvious that he respects her. So in the afternoon I found him reading the book on his own. I came over and he continued to read it out loud to me. At first he was using his finger to keep his place, but soon he was holding the book with both hands following the words and lines with only his eyes. The Sat before a group of Nica youth from a private Nica/American school came to Chacocente to learn about it and to drop off toys for all the kids in the school. While Fito was reading, these gifts were being passed out and it felt a bit like Christmas. Fito continued to read and not be distracted. I was amazed. I was sure that there was a gift waiting for him when he finished.

It´s a small step, but I thought significant. I will see if I can hook up Fito with Brenda when I leave. She does alot of the administrative work, teaches health, and plays the part of a school nurse when a kid gets hurt. But she cares alot for Fito and has known him for many, many yeas. At least until another American can come in and take over for me. There will be alot of activity at Chacocente in the next several months. Cherito says there are several American delegations coming in to help with the construction. They ususally come in groups of 6-15 for about a week. One of the groups will be staying for several weeks (months?). They have been there before but this time want to live at the project to get to know the families better. Some one in that group will be able to take over, I´m sure.

And I will send him pictures of his new look and his success when I return to the US, and we will continue to pray for his strength to continue on this path.

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