Gideon Centers

This is going to be my first posting that relates to a specific ASJ project. Most of what you read comes from the notes I took while a. listening to presentaciones or b. recording my observaciones when taken on excursions or outings. As each day I learn something new, what you are receiving might viene un poco tarde o might not seem to be recienrecibido. Regardless, I did my best to record what I was seeing and how I was feeling as I explored the different facets of this wonderful organization.

Before I begin to unleash my "expert" criticism, I have been feeling the conviction today to express my gratitude in a public manner for what the staff at ASJ has done for me during my viajito. A todos los miembros de ASJ, I must offer the most sincere gratitude for taking time out of their busy schedules to provide bastante information about what they do, for driving me to varios sitios to observe the incredible work that ASJ is doing, and for exhibiting un monton de patience as it pertains to explanations and las preguntas que hago yo when I do not understand exactly what is being described. Todos aca son bondadosos y generosos!

I imagine you are tired of hearing me talk about the incredible work that ASJ is doing without actually talking about the work. Well, empiezo ahora with Gedeon, or as it is called in English, the Gideon Centers.

In a nutshell, the Gideon Centers are offices located in poor communities offering legal aid and psychological counseling for a symbolic fee (clients are asked to bring a donation of 10 lempiras for the services they receive, which Abe and other ASJ staff explained to me is usually paid not because people feel obligated but because it makes the services more valuable to them). Before doing a site visit, Abe gave me a brief introduction about the services offered by the project as a whole. What grabbed me was a. the centers now service 1,000 clients each year, b. in addition to helping clients who seek legal counsel and psychological help, the centers also help individuals who want to make a difference by training them to be paralegals and counselors (Abe added that some of the staff members at the center know just as much about the legal system and about counseling as professional lawyers and counselors but do not have the certification or the hourly rate), c. the most typical cases in the community relate to child support, domestic violence, and depression, d. one of the project's specific tasks is tutoring school children, particularly those who need supplemental services.

According to Abe (what an experto this guy!), most of the schools in Honduras do not have the expertise or the resources to deal with children who have learning disabilities of any kind, so they are essentially pushed to the wayside or left without any opportunity to learn in a typical academic environment. How blessed I am to be working in a school that not only knows how to "deal" with learning disabilities but that also treats the children who have them with the respect and attention they deserve. For me, a learning disability is in no way disabling, while the teachers here apparently feel unable to help the children who need them most.

But back to Gedeon...e. the flip-side to the Peace & Justice project (I will get to that later) are two projects that are both preventing youth from joining gangs or the perpetrators of the violent acts that ASJ investigates and equipping youth to be productive members of society. In other words, ASJ is coming at the issue of injustice and violence from multiple fronts at the same time. Logic (and I remind my readers that logic is not the force that makes the world go round) would inform me that such a tactic would allow one project (Gideon Centers) to negate the need for the other (Peace & Justice). The two youth projects I am referring to are distinct: one--IMPACTO--involves bringing youth together for an hour a week to participate in exercises that incorporate values-based curriculum, play, and community betterment; the other--dryly called H-88 by the UN--allows unemployed, unschooled "at risk" youth to receive vocational training and eventually find viable employment. While the former initiative works wonders for community-based development, the latter is a wonderful example of how municipal authorities, non-governmental organizations, and international entities can work together to better the lives of young people. In this case, the UN provides the funds, ASJ selects the youth to be involved in the project, and the mayor's office of Tegucigalpa finds the youth jobs once their internship is finished. And with dozens ya graduados, the project looks to be a huge success! One of the women who you will read more about later--Nancy--informed me that one of the boys involved in the program now works for the Marriott in Tegucigalpa as a chef and another has found a full-time position as a mechanic in the city. But guess what? Of all of the projects that the UN can disassemble, it is the one making a difference that is going to be canned. Yep, I was told by Kurt VerBeek that the UN is considering suspending funds to H-88 because money is tight. Uh-huh. Here you find an initiative that a. provides jobs to young people who would otherwise wind up in gangs or simply on the streets, b. creates a partnership between entities that are normally (tristemente) in conflict, c. produces productive members of society, and d. doesn't cost much, and the response is to terminate it? As Abe puts it, such is the life of a non-profit. Que barbaridad!

When Abe's introductory spiel was over, I was taken to one of the centers in a community called Flor del Campo, where I learned more about the specific services this center offers. Nancy--a hard-working paralegal who also represents the Catholic contribution to the project--and Mario--a jolly and somewhat-eccentric individual who works with the counseling side of the project--were nice enough to sit with me in the coolest part of the building that houses the center. Mario initiated the discussion by explaining how the project had begun, while Nancy talked more about the clients who normally come to Gedeon. According to Mario (who ended each of his sentences with the nearly-rhetorical question, "Verdad?"), the Gideon Center project began as a response to the "problematica hondurena" and has ecumenical roots (this has become a major theme throughout the projects I have explored, which gives me hope about the divide I observed the last time I was here between Catholic and Evangelical factions). Several church leaders were trained in development strategies and began to propose responses to the ills found in Honduran society. These responses (legal assistance, counseling, etc.) became the means through which Gedeon improved the surrounding communities.

I was intrigued by this concept of the "Honduran problem," so I asked Mario to explain in his propias palabras what exactly he was referring to. He stated that 1. Honduras is a poor country, and such poverty stems from injustice, 2. delinquency has become a business through which cops receive money from the delinquents to avert their attention and thus crime increases, and 3. Honduras has an extensive and incredible system of laws....but they are not enforced. This fact has been expressed to me multiple times throughout my visit, and it certainly frustrates me. Why even make the laws if you aren't willing to enforce them? Why spell out exactly how you want your society to run if you don't take the steps to make it run in exactly that manera? Argh, digo yo. Argh. Mario's explanation of the Honduran problem naturally converted into a description of the problems he sees in the specific community in which he works. He described the marital issues, the depression, and the involvement of young people in gangs. He also explained a bit more what he does with the IMPACTO groups, but since I would be attending one later in the afternoon, he stopped himself mid-explanation ("Va a ver usted," dice).

Nancy then continued the discussion by talking about her role as the paralegal and about her involvement with the IMPACTO groups. As her group (the older youth) meets on Saturday, I was not going to be able to see her interaction with youth, so she provided enough information for me to understand what goes on. One part of the story that was especially moving began when I asked about the lack of female presence in the program (there are currently zero females participating in the IMPACTO groups). Nancy explained to me that since the brutal murder of one of her group members at the hands of a futbol-associated gang (in Honduras two of the gangs represent the two opposing equipos de futbol--Montagua y Olimpia), the other muchachas have decided not to come anymore. Understandable, but why don't las chavas go to Mario's group? What factor is limiting the involvement of females--an equally vulnerable group in the community? I was handed the newspaper article that told of the grotesque way in which this poor girl was murdered (it also showed the mutilated body, by the way...), and after reading the sentence that described how no one had helped the girl when she was pleading for her life (individuals in the community admitted to hearing her screams and pleas), I realized how much fear people are living with in these communities. Mario confirmed that realization and added that unless the person being attacked was a direct relative, no one in their right mind would interfere. Me pone pensar: would I react in the same way? Would I risk my life by stepping in to potentially save a dying neighbor? Would I risk the safety of my family by doing the same? Most likely not.

The "presentation" had ended, so Mario gave me a short tour of the facilities and then left me in Nancy's hands to walk around the community and talk with the beneficiaries of the Gideon Center's legal services. We ended at the site where Mario's IMPACTO group would be meeting to find a throng of energetic boys reading to play la pelota. Entonces, while we waited for Mario to arrive with his materials, the boys played--some without shirts, some with shoes that had a gaping hole in front, some with funny nicknames ("Selena" was the boy who looked like a girl, "Ballena" was the chubby kid, "Chele" was the white boy), but all with the desire to kick the ball as hard as they could. Yeah, I was asked to play. If you don't know my response to that question, read my earlier blog postings...

Mario finally arrived and corralled the boys together to begin the meeting (I don't think the pelotas were ever under control during the meeting...), which consists of various activities. The meetings are actually based on a curriculum developed in Romania that stresses values, community development, and recreational activities. First, the boys began by playing a game (in this case they had to stand across from one another and pretend like they were looking in a mirror). Then they discussed facets of the game and the reasons for doing it. Second, the boys listened to a story--a fable of sorts. They again discussed the story and how it applied to their lives. Third, the boys used what they learned through the story to decide on a community project for the week. Several boys volunteered for different roles and the decisions were documented. Finally, the boys received a snack and returned to their futbol game. Obviously there is some degree of caos to a meeting of 23 young whipper-snappers, but in truth the majority of the boys were engaged the entire time! They responded to questions about the story; they participated in the activity; and they behaved themselves. I repeat, these are at-risk, pelota-playing kids. Increible, ve?

Apart from the fun dynamics of the meeting, I was impressed by how intentional the structure was. Each portion of the meeting had a purpose, and being engaged in the values-based curriculum was almost a natural response to its presence. And the kids absolutely loved to be there! So much so that when the sign-in sheet arrived, they fought over who could sign it first and registrar.

For additional information about the impact of the Gideon Centers, check out the link below:

http://www.ajs-us.org/gideon_project.htm

More observations to come, complete with analysis & reflections.