I have been thinking a lot about one of the many wonderful moments I have witnessed since coming down here several weeks ago. Knowing my personality, the longer I stay the less I will want to leave, especially in times like these. Last week when we were driving the kids back from school one of my favorite boys, Manuel, the inspiration for my photography project that I'm starting now, started to yell back and forth with one of the local guys in town. He later told us that the joke around daily, but its the things that he was saying that blew my mind. While on the surface it seems rude that he was yelling things to this guy who clearly didn't have the best life, the reality is that it shows much more about Manuel, and thereby ProNiño than anything else. The man's job is selling bananas on the street corner out of a large truck, and the guy is older, and not bright. Manuel yelled to the guy, "hey! Go study, go to school! You are selling bananas!" In that moment its impossible to ignore the magnitude of the impact ProNiño has on the boys it serves. Because of ProNiño the boys like going to school, know without a doubt that they have a future, and know that no matter what they will be successful because they have a support system that ensures it. Even the banana guy knows it too.
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