My Friend Oscar

Reporting from 5/18/09

Liz Kilborn

 

 

            Being here for only two days so far in Managua, we’ve already made great connections with local Nicas.  It’s so different down here and their way of life is just astounding to me.  The hardest part about being down here is not the heat or the bugs – but the children.  They absolutely break your heart because they are so adorable and cute, but they’re so poor and ask for money.  They just look up at you with their big brown eyes and skinny outstretched arms and say sheepishly “…money?”

            We went to a place called Batahola – a center for learning.  The kids here didn’t ask for money, instead, they just wanted to see their picture on our digital cameras.  They laughed and goofed around by playing with puzzles and puppets.  They were all there learning after school to receive tutoring in the purpose of advancing their education. 

            One little boy that stole my heart within the first 24 hours of being in Managua was not from the community center. In fact, he doesn’t even go to school.  Jessica and I were talking together with two of our other delegates when we heard a bustle of leaves and wood coming from not too far away.  A boy cleared away a chunk of fencing so he could get his bike through the path to ride up and down our semi-paved road. 

            We talked to our guard on duty, his name is Victor, and we asked him why this boy was out so late on what normally would be a school night.  Victor told us the boy doesn’t attend school and lives with an old man in a “house” near our hostel.  Victor also told us that he was 14, even though he doesn’t look a day over 11 or 12.  We noticed this boy kept riding his bike back and forth in front of us, so we called him over to try to talk to him.

            He came over cautiously as if checking us out first to see if we were okay to approach.  Jessica speaks Spanish so I asked her to translate for me.  We found out his name is Oscar and he also said he was 14 when we asked.  After we broke the ice, Oscar hung around with us for the whole night and even let us rides his bike around the front of our hostel entrance.  We occasionally figured out questions to ask him, but for the most part he just sat on his bike and listened to our conversation – for hours.  We weren’t speaking any Spanish either, and he had no idea what we were saying to each other unless someone translated what they could. 

            We’re not sure why he hung around with us for so long that first night, but we didn’t mind. We were able to pick up bits and pieces of his life throughout the night.  Last night, our second night here, he came by again and this time was open with Jessica and me. However, as more delegates came outside from the hostel, he became more and more shy.  Keyla asked him if he went to school and he replied, “Yes” and that he was in his second year out of five in high school.

            Jessica and I looked at each other and knew this wasn’t true from what our guard had told us the night before.  We came up with the idea that he may have felt subconscious in front of everyone and “just said” he went to school so he wouldn’t be embarrassed or feel that he had to explain personal information.

            I decided to change the subject and taught him “Ms. Mary Mack”. It took him some time to get the hand motions down but before you knew it, him and I were doing “Ms. Mary Mack” as fast as we could until we couldn’t do it right anymore.  A guy named Nick who works for CEPAD speaks Spanish and translated to me that Oscar said the game was fun. We then proceeded to teach him English and by the end of the night, with some help from me, he was able to say to delegates who came out: “Hello, my name is Oscar. What is your name? Your name is ____. I am 14. What’s up?”

            He has a curiosity for us and I look forward to his visits so we can make him smile and laugh.  It’s really easy to put a smile on any child’s face and all I want to do is keep making that happen over and over again. After your done reading this, just remember that we are all the same even though we may be classified in different levels…but we’re all going to the same place in the end.