My mother's side of the family is from Minnesota, and I'm the first person in several generations to move out of Minnesota for a substantial period of time. I tell you that to tell you this: my mother and other relatives on her side own shares in an oil well in Texas. I don't exactly understand all the ins and outs of it, but it has something to do with my mother's father, who abandoned the family when she was very young. He apparently ran off to Texas and bought part of an oil well, and then willed the shares to my mother and others when he died. I know, it sounds made-up, doesn't it? I swear it's true. Anyway, my mother periodically receives a check from the "Oil Well People", and now, so do I! It's an incredibly fortunate thing, and since I'm on really solid footing financially (for the first time in my adult life), I decided that I wanted to sponsor two more children with the money I'll be receiving. I'm not doing anything to EARN it, after all.
So...I decided to sponsor two older children, a boy and a girl. (More about the young lady later!) I called CI and asked if they had any older kids, ones who were even older than the oldest youths on the website. I asked specifically if they had any young people who were nearing graduation (which occurs after the 19th birthday) and did not have sponsors. I wanted to sponsor a child who otherwise might have graduated from the CI program without ever finding another sponsor. (It's harder to find sponsors for older children, especially boys, it seems.) The helpful rep. introduced me to Omar Vicente G. I.! That's him above- isn't he handsome?
Omar is 17 years old. He will turn 18 on December 11th. He is taller than me at 5'4" tall, and he weighs 112 lbs. He is still in school, which made me happy. I was afraid that an older child might have had to drop out of school in order to support his/her family. But Omar still attends school. His favorite subject is History. His favorite pastime, of course, is playing soccer! He also likes to dance. At home his chores are running errands.
Omar lives with his parents and five siblings. Father Vicente is a street vendor, and mom Dayse is a laborer. Omar has FOUR older sisters and one younger brother, all of whom live in the home. Lorena is 28, Olanda is 27, Alexandra is 25, Yenny is 22, and brother Bryan Stiven is 10. The whole family must survive on an income of about $220 a month.
The family lives in a home consisting of one multipurpose room and three bedrooms. The walls and floor are concrete and the roof is made of corrugated metal. Omar sleeps in a wooden bed. The family has a gas stove for cooking, and there is running water in the home. There is a latrine, and electicity use is regulated.
So that's Omar Vicente...next post I'll introduce you to the lovely Jessica, also from Guayaquil. (I have fallen totally in love with Guayaquil and with Ecuador in general.)
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