Sorry for the lack of updates lately.
Only this time I really mean it. I realize that the blog has slipped a little as of late but I will attempt to bring you up to speed on things. Honestly there have been some hard times in the last few months. Things have happened to us in our work here that have left us at times feeling very discouraged. We have questioned how much longer we want to stay in here in Jackson and discussed what our next step might be. I can’t go into full details but know that we are cared about here. I think it is healthy for us to evaluate our situation and to question staying or leaving because if its time to go we can figure that out and go but if we are to stay I think we can renew our commitment to what we are doing and find renewed passion. I can say that some of the frustration comes from witnessing the depth of the problems in our community. It’s a fight each day to keep up hope. The odds are so stacked against a child growing up in certain situations that we see. The older they become the harder it seems to connect. We are reminded that we can’t fix these problems alone. We understand so much more now the power of indigenous leaders who could potentially have a great impact on their community. Even amidst the hopelessness and discouragements there are still glimpses of hope.
Cortez is a ninth grader at Provine High School down the street from our house. Last summer he was my assistant for our summer camp and we had a lot of time together. He and his family recently moved into a Perkins center owned home 4 houses down from us. Cortez loves to play basketball and I actually met him over a year ago out on the basketball courts behind our house. We have a policy that our park at the Perkins Center is closed (gate locked) unless a staff member is there to supervise the grounds. Many times Cortez would ring my doorbell wanting me to open the park so he could shoot hoops. As I got to know Cortez more I began to value his friendship and I could also see how he responded to encouragement from me. I began to tell him that I had big dreams for him. I tried the to plant the idea in his head of him taking over for me as Youth director someday. My intention was to let him know that this park and place was his so he would begin to take ownership of it. I told him a good starting point would for him to be in charge of the park and I talked of him getting his own key. He took the idea and ran with it. He hasn’t received his own key yet but on most weekends you can find him out in the park. This past Sunday he kept the park open from 11 am til dark. I watched as kids flooded the park throughout the day. The park is such a valuable resource in the community. It gives kids a safe place to come and play and keeps them off the streets. As the sun went down Sunday evening I peeked out the back window to see only 3 people still playing basketball. I noticed plastic bottles littering the ground everywhere from drinks purchased and consumed from our drink machine. We have several garbage cans throughout the property but for some reason people prefer to throw it on the ground. I looked out a few minutes later to see Cortez walking around the basketball court with a recycle bin in hand picking up the trash everyone else had left behind. In that moment I realized that Cortez had taken ownership of his park. I’m amazed how the smallest of actions can bring the greatest of hope.
