Mateo is 22yrs old, in primary 5 class, and has spent most of his life living on the streets. During that time he did drugs, and glue, and had periods of time in and out of detention. He always had links with his mum and siblings, and sometimes would live at home for a while, but his mum struggled to cope with them all. Being at home never seemed to work out, and each time he’d return to the streets. Most of his siblings have also spent time on and off the streets, and his younger brother still spends a lot of times there.
For Mateo, life has had a complete turnaround. He now goes to church and sings in the choir, and is living at home with all the family except for the one younger brother who still finds the streets too much of a pull.
When asked what was it that prompted him to turn his life around, Mateo said that it was a few things. When he was on the drugs, he felt like he was hearing voices telling him to stop taking drugs. His sister was also forever begging him to stop taking drugs and try going to church instead. And then there were Angelique and Jeremiah from the GNPDR street kids programme, who showed him so much care and acceptance, even when he’d just come out of the detention centre and also encouraged him to come off the drugs and consider going back to school.
So, the reason he stopped doing the drugs, and is now back at school, was a combination of all the messages that he heard over and over again. In the end he just started believing them, and he decided to listen to them and take notice. Being released from the detention this past time felt like the opportunity he needed to start over in a new way, so he moved home with mum and went back to school, thanks in part to financial support from GNPDR to pay for school fees contribution. Thankfully, as he is not very tall, and has a young-looking face, he fits in with the rest of the students, even though he’s probably 7 – 9 years older than the rest of the class.
If Mateo does well at his Primary 6 exams (national school leavers certificate), he would like to go on and do senior school, but if not he’ll do some vocational training course instead. Ideally though, he’d like to be a pilot.
As for the younger sibling, Mateo keeps telling him to stop taking drugs just like he was always being told. In this way, Mateo hopes that it will result in his brother coming off the streets like he has done.