Hogar Crea is a men’s recovery center in Granada, Nicaragua. To say it is understaffed would be a huge understatement. There are several of these centers in Nicaragua and they are all run by one director. One.
Each center has an assistant director. The assistant director at the center we visited graduated the program only a few weeks prior to obtaining his new position. I hope I am painting a clear picture of how “in need” these centers are.
I guess I should start with a brief rundown of what lead me to this men’s recovery center in Granada, Nicaragua. We began our journey by hearing a call to “Go”. We were not sure where this “Go” was leading us. What we did know is that we were going.
Through a series of events we came in contact with the Kayes. They are AIM missionaries in Granada. It wasn’t long after that we were boarding a plane to visit them for a week. We did not know much about the work they were doing in Granada but we did know that they worked with men that were in recovery.
As many of you may or may not know, I spent many years of my life addicted to drugs and alcohol. In 2004 I entered a recovery center and 12 months later I graduated the program. It was a Christ-centered program and through the men and women there I was introduced to a Jesus that loved me the way I was. A Jesus that tenderly picked me up and showed me what I worth in His eyes. I always felt that God rescued me to help others recover from addictions and learn who they are in Christ.
Now back to Hogar Crea. Crea is not only understaffed but while we were there someone in the program found out where the director kept what little money they did have and took it. With no back-up funds, no governement assistance – these men where left with no food. None. Recovering from all sorts of issues (drugs and alcohol are almost always a way of self-medicating a much bigger issue) with no food. I can’t imagine what that feels like.
Thanks to everyone who supported us on this trip – we had the incredible opportunity (mostly due to the fact that the Kayes insisted on not letting us pay for any of our food while we were there) to buy basic staples to feed the men for about a month.
[ If you look real close you can see a big smile from the only gringo in the picture ]
Today I long to be back in Granada.
