Jesus is the kind of kid who absorbs knowledge like a sponge. When we visited him and his family at the La Roca shelter in Nogales, Mexico, all he wanted to do was practice his English. He took learning new words really seriously, repeating them out loud and grinning with satisfaction when he got it just right.
His family is at the shelter after months of travel through Central America. And now, like the other 60 people at La Roca, he’s waiting for his turn to be interviewed with U.S. immigration.
But in the meantime, he’s a little bit restless. He wants to keep learning English, wants to engage his mind.
As a twelve year old, you can hardly blame him. For somebody as whip smart as Jesus, the past few months have been tough – his education has been put on hold. And other people at La Roca also told us about how during these days, they’re filled with anxiety on what might be coming next, but they don’t have much to do.
One way to expand your mind and stay occupied, everyone around the world? A good book.
It’s not the best solution for everyone, but especially for talented young people like Jesus, having access to books can mean the world.
So we set out to set up a little lending library at the shelter – filled with English language learning books, vocab flashcards, and more.
La Roca is one stop along the journey – but that doesn’t mean that people staying there can’t prepare for the path ahead.
