My name is Chulo (or, Gerson David Maldonado) and I’m 11 years old. When I met Miriam she brought me here (community outreach centre). And when I saw everything that was here, I said, “Wow, so beautiful.”

World Vision has done everything for us. We didn’t have any school supplies, they bought it for me, they bought me a backpack. Notebooks, pencils, colors, and right now they gave me more food supplies. Miriam has "taken my hunger out” (figure of speech meaning: to not let him starve, and gave him food). Sometimes I come in the afternoon and we watch movies. But they put on just movies for kids and I don’t like them. I would like for them to put a movie like Coco or something like that, not only Peppa Pig, that they put on a lot. Maybe sometimes they can put a different movie, one of a worm or something. When I was 9 years old, we played football here, and we had a little tournament. And we won. That’s my happiness, that we won!

My name is Elsa Miriam Velasquez. I coordinate the Committee of Protection and Welfare for boys, girls and youth of La Pradera Community. We help different kids with different trainings, in particular, we helped Gerson Maldonado. Affectionately we call him “Chulo”. In the morning he goes to his school, and in the afternoons he comes here, so we can support him in his studies.

He has no support from his parents. He was a kid that the gangs could take because he didn’t have any support. Because he has been in 'value' workshops he tells me... “I’m not going to be like them.” A few months ago the gangs killed a person in the community. A 17-year-old girl and he saw how they took her life, he told me, “I don’t want to end up like this. Please support me so I can learn more.” In the “Centro de Alcance” (outreach centre) his mind has changed, and so too, have many other boys. If we weren’t here in the community, I think we would have already lost him.