Chico: Home Again!

In 2012, I posted about taking one of my favorites back to his family.  Chico.  His story of leaving the streets has been a tough one.  His mom's home is on the outskirts of the city and for the past 3 years, he's fought the allure of returning to the streets....often loosing the battle.  He's been back and forth from home and the streets more times than I can remember.  Each time he showed up at Masana, we'd try showing tough love in hopes that he'd quickly return home.  Some of his stints on the street were for weeks or months.  At one point, we only allowed him to come to our center 2 days a week in hopes that he'd return home.

Earlier this year, Chico went back home again.  And its seems as if his family have finally figured out how to help him.  His grandmother, who lives a good 30 or 40 minutes from the city, has taken him in.  Simply putting some distance between him and the city has done the trick.  This past week I visited him at his new home.  How he's grown-up over these past 3 years!  His grandmother's home seems filled with joy.  She genuinely loves Chico and wants to see him doing well.  Getting him into school in that area is going to be a challenge because of his age vs. grade level.  But we will see what options we can find for him.  For now, he's helping his grandmother with the farm and raising a few pigs.  So beautiful to see him finally living a normal Mozambican life!!