They also operate a drug rehabilitation center. Some 550 children reside in these various facilities. Sometimes it is alcoholism or physical or sexual abuse which causes a child to run away. Sometimes it is poverty, sometimes it is cultural. In our society men do not accept the children of another man in a family.
Step children become slaves.
Sometimes they are just abandoned to the streets because there is no food to feed them. Wellington checks the battery on the walkie-talkie which is carried by all Casa Alianza staff when they are away from the facilities or offices. Harassment or worse actions by the police and death squads has been a problem. We leave the Refugio and head south on a city bus that costs about a dime. It is an apt description.