Nuestros Jóvenes

I don't care what any of the other trainees say; we have the BEST youth group in Nicaragua. Our jóvenes range in age from 12 (shh..they're all supposed to be 15 or older) to 21 and we always have a showing of at least 20 of them at every meeting. Regardless of the huge age range, everyone gets along and looks out for each other. The older ones all participate in all the ice breakers and games, no matter how embarassing they might be. The younger ones impress me daily with their abilities to make amazinggg bracelets and they all have such a genuine commitment to a group that formed so recently. At almost every meeting, we have someone that comes in with a new project he or she made from recycled materials. There's always someone who has an idea for a new game we can all play, and when we introduce new ideas to them, they jump on board with no need for promting whatsoever!

By far though, the best meeting for me was last week when these 4 guys (in their 20s) showed up drunk. Well that part was really uncomfortable at first because they tried to crash the meeting, and came in whistling and cat-calling at our girls. I immediately told them that unless they were there to participate, they'd have to leave. I said it wasn't ok to treat our girls like that. (In Spanish - picture that!) After that, three of them left with no problem. One though, refused to leave. So my host nephew (Alvaro, 17) and my next door neighbor (Jose, 21) helped us right away. They were so calm about it and told the guy he had to go because this was a meeting for the kids. They told him to look at all the kids and to not embarass himself and the town. They stood up for us (since none of us are comfortable enough to be assertive in Spanish) and for their fellow group members right away and it was sooo touching. Then two more of the teenage guys helped to walk him outside. They were all so good about staying calm and not letting it escalate. Once he was outside the gate, Alvaro walked with him for a while to make sure he wasn't going to come back in. I heard him saying how the group was doing really well and asking him not to cause problems.

The younger kids were so good and just continued to work on their projects throughout all the "action." Long story short, I absolutely love our jóvenes and I so don't want to leave my training town!