CICS has added a new family member for 2022. Joel Neftaly Villalobos Varela is a former student who had dropped out and declined to come to school last year. However, after working at a car wash for a year, he has had a change of heart and requested to come back to school. He is 15 years old, so we placed him in the class with Miguel and Jairo, with Kendall as his teacher.
Joel (pronounced “Hoe – el”) is very intelligent, memorizes his word lists with little effort and knows his math well. He could be an outstanding student if he would be willing to apply himself. Sadly, his home seems to be a rough-and-tumble place and Joel brings a bit of a swaggering arrogance and coarseness that prevents him from truly excelling at school.
At first, Joel communicated in a very forceful way, with lots of yelling, animated sound effects and gestures that were difficult to decipher. However, after a few weeks, he has learned that we are able to understand him just fine if he uses good sign language. He doesn’t need all the extra effects to communicate here at CICS. I am sure at home, where his family does not know sign language, the loud sound effects and forceful gestures ensure that he is not ignored by his family and at least partially understood.
Miguel is another student who comes to us from a less than ideal home. Raised by a collection of aunts, uncles and grandparents after being discarded by his mother, he often seems torn between two worlds.
On good days, he is bubbling over with energy, smiling ear-to-ear and laughing at funny stories, studying diligently at school and playing recess with a joyful abandon. In the afternoons, he is attacking his work with a vengeance in hopes of having some time to ride bikes or fly kites before supper. On bad days he is difficult from the start, being disruptive in class and then in the afternoons, rebelling against whatever job or instruction he is given to do.
Often when we talk to him about his bad behavior, he is remorseful, even tearful and promises to do better. We know there is tenderness inside Miguel because we see it in his deep brown eyes when he has done wrong and tears well up. We know it because of the tenderness he shows to Amy, being patient with her when she tries to help him or lifting her up to show her a birds nest with eggs in it. But most of all we know it is there, because God created Miguel and placed that softness inside him, just as he has in each of us.
But many days, it does not get better, and he seems to embrace his rebellious, dis-respectful side, refusing to allow goodness to triumph. Sadly, we have already had to suspend Miguel for 1 week due to his rebellious behavior. Unfortunately, the week he was suspended was the week we were planning to take a little trip to a Zoo in San Salvador, so he was not able to go.
Zoo day, what fun! The children are excited from the moment I pick them up in the morning and the anticipation only builds as we pull into the yard at CICS and see all the staff gathered by the front door, waiting our arrival. After everyone has used the bathroom and all the food and drinks for the day have been loaded into the van, we gather in a circle and ask God to bless our day and protect us on our adventure.
Then there is a scramble as 16 people pile into the 15 passenger van and everyone finds their seat and tries to secure a little legroom. On the hour long drive, the children and staff talk, play Uno and Go Fish and watch for interesting sights out of the windows. When we arrive at the zoo, everyone piles out of the van and staff and students are partnered up so that no one will get lost or left behind. After buying tickets, ($1 per person) we head to the entrance.
At the gate, the gruff security guard inspects Anthony’s backpack. He finds a bag of chips intended for a snack and denies us entrance. “It is forbidden to bring food into the zoo!” There is a bit of a scramble as chips, cookies and a few bananas intended for the monkeys are returned to the van.
At last we are in the zoo! The children run gleefully from cage to cage, looking at the lion, the tiger, the puma and the zebra. Sadly, Manjula passed away several years ago, so there is no elephant. We do see a water buffalo, some pretty spotted deer, a llama and some alligators. The zoo is practically empty and except for the staff wandering around and a few scattered visitors, we have the place almost to ourselves.
Anthony looks eagerly for his favorite animal, a fox, but although there is a cage marked “fox” no one is able to see the sly tricksters. The coyote is out and about and we see all kind of birds, including an emu. Finally, we find the highlight of the zoo, the monkeys!
While most of the other animals are in too small cages with more concrete than green grass, the monkeys live on a collection of islands in a small lake. They have a glorious life, swinging from tree to tree with no steel bars and wire fence to keep them in. Only their dis-taste for swimming keeps them caged. We sit on the benches across from the islands and spend more than an hour just watching them. Climbing, jumping, swinging, and hanging by their tails, they seem to be having so much fun. Then one monkey shrieks, hops up-and-down and seems to be pointing into the water. In an instant, he is joined by a dozen others, all shrieking excitedly and gesturing in a way that almost looks like sign language! It is not a sign that we know and we never do discover why they were so excited. Maybe they saw a fish?
As a bonus, we were able to see multiple iguanas. They were not caged and seemed to be honored guests at the zoo, able to roam about as they pleased. One particularly large iguana enjoyed sunbathing on a rock wall directly beside the path. I don’t know if the iguana got any joy from the little shriek and sideways hop that happened when my hand almost brushed against him but I know the children certainly did. Although harmless, they do look quite scary, especially up close and personal.
As always, please continue praying for the work here at CICS.
- Kendall – for wisdom and energy as he teaches the older class, also that his stomach will adjust to the food of El Salvador
- Ranita – for wisdom and energy as she teaches the younger students
- Edwin – for wisdom and grace as he works with Miguel and Deris in the afternoons
- Mariela – for patience as she is the only staff member who doesn’t speak English
- Leticia – for endurance as she works on learning sign language and Spanish
- Joel – for a soft heart and gentleness towards others
- Miguel – that in the battle for his heart, evil will be defeated and goodness will reign
- Jairo – to learn to apply himself diligently and to understand the evil and pain of a “gangster life”
- Deris – to embrace his talents and not be caught up in being “cool” and “tough”
- Anthony – that his heart remains soft and tender and that he understands his own value
- Gabriela – that she can continue to find joy in coming to school as the lone girl among 5 boys.
- Keith/Melody/Amy/Liam/Baby Yoder – Wisdom as we lead the work here, energy and joy even on the hot days, good health for Melody and the littlest Yoder.
Grace and Peace,
Keith Yoder, for CICS
Learning From Adventures 