German's Story (by Sami)

We grew up very very poor. I used to wish I had a different life. I used to think, "Why was I born in a region that has only mines? Why was I born so poor?" I worked in the mines from the time that I was six to eighteen. My father was an alcoholic. I had malnutrition very bad as a child, which is why I am so short. I would look at airplanes flying over in the sky and hope that a backpack or a bag would fall out and hopefully there would be some money in it. That was my poverty mindset. When I came home from Collegio (high school), I found that my mother had become an alcoholic as well. There were eleven of us kids. I used to wish that my father was dead so that I could be free of this house, this place, so I could be free of my family. I went to college to get a business degree. To pay for myself, I worked as a bartender. I would work in the bar from 8:00 PM to 2:00 in the morning. I also cleaned the bathroom of the bar and it was so dirty that I would stay cleaning it till 3:00. After that I would go home and rest. I had to be in class at 7:00 in the morning. My professor would tell me that this major is wrong for me. In Bolivia, a business degree was only considered to be for the wealthy. I went 3 months without eating anything at all. My hand would be shaking during exams. I was able to change my life and transform into a very different person, but only through seeking the will of God and his path in my life. German is the director of the Villa Margarita office of FH. It was in this neighborhood that we are working on our trip. German is the coordinator of our activities, and he has shared some of his vision for the neighborhood with us. He is now a visionary, he changes the lives of children who are living his story right now. He has been transformed, body and mind, through his love of Christ and his word. We pray that many will experience this same transformation, and that our team of Americans can be a catalyst for that change!