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Edgar

 

Edgar comes to the Guarderia, a place to learn and play under careful supervision while his mother works and siblings attend school. His only alternative would be to stay at home alone each day, even though he's only five years old.
Five-year-old Edgar lives next to the Guatemala City garbage dump, in a one-room home for as many as nine people who share three twin-size mattresses but no sheets. A couple of his older sisters come to Safe Passage at the Educational Reinforcement Center, and he comes to the Guarderia.  His mom is a single mother mourning the all-too-recent loss of her youngest child. Edgar’s mom wishes she could study in the Adult Literacy Program, but as the sole breadwinner in her household, she cannot find the time to do anything besides work, scavenging in the garbage dump. She hasn’t the time to learn reading and writing, nor can she afford to retrieve medication or stay home to nurse her son, whose scab-covered back evidences the chicken pox that keep him out of the Guarderia for the day.  

In spite of his illness, Edgar is a happy and energetic boy. He is home alone and sick with an itchy rash, and there’s no food in the pantry, books to read, or lights to play by. So Edgar plays soccer outside - in the street -  as garbage trucks rumble past, stray dogs and cats scrounge for food, and adults and teens with nothing else to do succumb to vices that offer escape. In this environment, not healthy or safe for a boy of five, Edgar kicks around a ball. He spends the day this way – even demonstrating budding athletic talent – until the ball gets lost under the tires of a garbage truck.

Fortunately, an unsupervised day like this one isn’t typical for Edgar. With ointment from Safe Passage’s health clinic, his chicken pox have since cleared up, and he is back at the Guarderia, where food, attentive care, books, and friends abound. His mother can go to work with the peace of mind that comes from knowing her son is safe, occupied, and beginning his education. Edgar is engaging, athletic, and friendly, and these characteristics will serve him well no matter where he goes. But with the education and support he finds through Safe Passage, he’ll have opportunities far beyond the confines of a soccer ball in the congested street outside his home.