One of the guys this week came in. He is the one that can barely walk or talk. He's a complete mess. I think I've mentioned him in another post, but if not, you're about to find out about him. He has been on the streets since he was 7 or 8 because his mother was gone (I'm not exactly sure what happened to her) and his father was extremely abusive. The dad ended up in jail for abuse, but the kid was so afraid of people by that point that he somehow got out of his foster family. Since that time he's been on the street using every drug imaginable and he has nothing left physically or mentally. He is skin and bones. He looks like he is in his 20s but I've proven myself to be awful at guessing people's ages down here, so that may be off haha. Tuesday I walked in and he was sitting outside the shelter on the sidewalk. I noticed an awful smell, but didn't think much of it since there have been all kinds of bad smells in the past few weeks. I'll remind you that these people live in the streets without showers and bathrooms. However, I went in and talked with Paty about him (They call him the Toro or something like that. I'm never quite sure). She said they refused to let him in. When I asked her why she was like, "Didn't you smell him?!?" Apparently he had some kind of stomach virus or something and had gone to the bathroom all over himself. They couldn't let him in because they have to shower and be clean, however they couldn't let him into the shower because of the mess he would make. If that isn't a sight to see I don't know what is. He can't walk by himself, so someone had brought him and dropped him off at the door earlier in the morning. They weren't going to be back until later. In the meantime the smell was wafting into the shelter because he was right outside. They gave him some medicine and some food so he'd eat something, but they wouldn't let him come in. He has nobody, is addicted to every drug imaginable, and has nothing and nowhere to go. I'm not sure what happened to him after that, but I'm guessing someone came to pick him up and hopefully helped him clean up himself. I still don't understand how there is no place else for him to go in this city. I don't know how the social service system works, but Paty and Alex are doing their best to find some kind of rehab place for him.
Leonardo is another guy that is one of the most frequent comers. He comes every day of the week even when there is no food in order to help set up for their Thursday night service and clean stuff up. Paty and Alex are like his family. He's 20 and has been on the street since he was 12. I was washing dishes with him last Thursday and was trying to make conversation so I asked him what he would do if he could do anything he wanted. Without hesitation he answered me that he would make a time machine and go back to when his family was still together and before he knew drugs. We kept talking he explained how he ended up in the streets. I couldn't understand him really well because he was talking really quietly but I didn't feel I could ask him to repeat himself just because I didn't understand since you could tell he was kind of struggling to say it all. My Spanish was getting better, but when I can't hear every word, I don't really have a shot. However, something happened to his mom so that she was unable to take care of them. His older brother went to Chiapas (another state) to live with extended family, and somehow he ended up here alone. He got into drugs and this is where he lives.
This is a section that is a barrier between the two sides of the freeway. There is a dug out part and that is where he has made a tent. However, it rains every day here (it's rainy season) so I have no idea how they do it. The good news though is that Monday we are taking him to look at a 3 month rehabilitation center that is Christian run. He said if he likes it he's checking himself in Tuesday. Pray that he likes it!
Last story of the night. Rocio- the girl who had the lice- came in on Thursday and had an awful stomach ache. They thought she might have an ulcer so they tried to get it to calm down and let her sleep on a couch the whole time we were there. Friday it had gotten worse so that she couldn't even stand. We took her to a Medical consultant. They have them at all the pharmacies and for 20 pesos/ less than $2 you can see a doctor. He said that we needed to get an ambulance and get her to the hospital because he thought it was her appendix. So we walked back to the shelter, called an ambulance, and 2 hours later they got there. By that time she was crying in pain when she walked over to the door. They took her to the hospital. Her boyfriend went with her, and we stayed back because Friday afternoon we were having a Father's Day dinner thing for the neighborhood. A few hours later they got back and told us that they got to the hospital and they refused to do anything because they were homeless. When they were filling out the paperwork they said they didn't have an address. Well this is not legal in Mexico either, however everyone is looking for a bribe and since they have absolutely nothing they were sent home. Well this didn't exactly go over very well when they returned. Luckily she was feeling better so they don't think it's her appendix anymore. However she was still feeling awful and had no concrete answers. We got them some food for the weekend, a few bottles of water, and some change to use a payphone if anything happened so that they could call Paty. As of today Paty hadn't heard anything about it so hopefully Rocio is feeling better. However, how awful.
Lots of things to think about. All I know is I am learning so much from Paty and Alex as they're working with all of these people. They have so much patience and love for them while you know it is breaking their hearts along the way. However, there are so many success stories from this place. It's a place where these people get loved and hear about God. That's all you can do. I'm definitely realizing that God is the one that does the changing. You can give them food and clothes and a shower, but God is the one that has the power.
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