These are the twins, Jalissa and MariaAngeles, two of the sweetest girls you'll ever meet. Recently I began doing house visits, mainly for me to get to know the girls and their families better but also to learn how FSF is serving them and how it could be better. Friday I met with the girls and their guardian which in their case is their grandmother. Their grandmother hastily answered my questions because she was on her way out to go to work and told me she works pretty much all hours of the day so I'm glad I at least got to meet her. The house that the girls live in is fairly big and there are so many people that I was under the impression that their mom and dad lived with them. They told me their parents live in Costa Rica for work. The way they told me was not how most 9 yr olds would be able to, they are so strong and have the unfortunate circumstance that their parents cannot be with them. That is the reality of a lot of our girls. The tourism industry in Costa Rica provides better jobs and parents can send their family money. Some of the questions that I ask the girls are like, "do you feel safe at FSF," "what is your favorite part, playing soccer or coming to activities," "why did you first come to FSF and why do you continue coming," etc. just to get of sense of how they feel about the program. They gave me such honest answers and it was cool to hear what they thought. They are all about team, we have been splitting up the girls at soccer practice based on skill because we have 30+ girls and it's too big of a group to all practice together. But the twins said for them it would be better if we stayed together because they have friends in the new girls group and want to be able to play with them, too. Both of them show great love for their friends and value the girls they've met through the program. When I asked them if they felt safe, they said yes and that it's better that they are at school or at FSF, I think for them because they don't have much to do at home but I know for other girls their home lives are chaotic and not a safe space for them. I'm really enjoying house visits, spending time with the girls is inspiring and makes me want to spend more and more time with them, they are amazing human beings!
