Visiting My Colombian and Dominican Sponsored Children- Trip Three: Visiting Leonardo

We arrived in the city of Santa Marta around 9:00 and drove to the neighborhood where Leonardo lives. Leonardo is an eleven year old child who is sponsored by a group of Children International sponsors. He loves school and playing soccer. I met him in 2013 along with his mother, younger sister and one of his older brothers. As we drove up to him home, things began to look familiar. Leonardo lives on the lower side of a mountain, and as we climbed the rocky ledge, I saw some familiar buildings but did not recognize the home that we stopped in front of. I learned that this was his older sister's home and that Leonardo, along with his sister and her children, were inside but that they were not ready. I also learned that Leonardo's mother was very ill in the hospital. I knew from the first visit that his mother had a very bad illness but that she had been receiving treatment and doing better. Now, we learned that she was not doing well and that she was not expected to survive.

We sat down outside in front of the sister's home and then I realized that his sister's home faced the back of Leonardo's home which I recognized when I sat down. I also learned that the family is trying to sell Leonardo's mother's home because of her illness and all of his siblings are living with other relatives. After a little while, Leonardo came out and gave me a big hug. He looked the same except that he was taller. I gave him his small gifts and we took photos. Leonardo introduced me to his cousin who is about the same age and was a child that I recognized from an earlier photos. His younger cousin, a little girl, also came out but she had been sleeping so she went back inside to sleep until it was time for school.

I was very happy to see Leonardo but I was very sad to hear about his mother's condition and hoped that the day would be a fun one for him.