Uno makes me think of Fernando

The other day I played UNO with a bunch of boys at the Casa Hogar & it brought back a few memories of La Fusion...

FERNANDO: Fernando was a troubled 13 year old. He was already into drugs & had a marijuana plant tattooed on his leg. He didn't go to school, but worked to help out his family. Somehow I always ended up playing UNO with him & he cheated nonstop. One day, he came to greet me with the common cultural kiss, & instead of hitting my cheek, he planted it right on my lips! I was shocked (& rather disgusted). Needless to say, he was kicked out for the evening & later had to apologize.

CARLOS: Many of you might remember Carlos Chavez. We shared about him over Christmas when he spoke a few different times. He is a challenge to say the least. Carlos stole our iPod, broke the power in the youth center, graffitied our car, & even hit the other kids. Even though we no longer have the youth center, Carlos still shows up in our lives. And everytime I have to pray for more grace.

MARCOS: Marcos decided to graffiti the bathroom one day. He had potential of being a good kid but it all depended on who he was hanging out with at the moment. Of course, we had to kick him out & he got a good scolding from one of our old students, Zuemy. He did eventually come back & we actually enjoyed hanging out with him.

LAS 3 HERMANAS: My heart had to go out to the three sisters but I gritted my teeth everytime they came. They were about 12 years old when their parents kicked them out of their house. In order to survive, they had to "make a deal" with a local busdriver: if they did anything he wanted, they could sleep in his bus. So at the young age of 12 they had to sell themselves in order to survive. They were the reason we had the youth center. We needed them just as much as they needed us. But with that came drama, hormones, & other unnecessary situations. Eventually they stopped coming and I'm not sure where they are today.

CARLOS, DAMIAN, LUIS, JUAN PABLO, ANGEL... These were a few of my favorites. They caused trouble of their own at times, but were generally good kids. Each week they brought a smile to my face. I got to know their lives, their families, their history. And though I don't get to see them anymore on a regular basis, we have kept in touch. My prayer is that we indefinitely left a mark on their lives.

All of this came from a single deck of UNO cards & the joyous sound of laughter from a group of young boys.

**The picture is some of the boys from the youth center**