Alex's

i know this story isnt well written but, its late, and i just wanna post some photos. sorry.

this is alex. his sister and his niece. i met with alex a few times and asked him to bring me to his house, i wanted to see how how he lived. he was 15 and spoke surprisingly good english. he also sold drugs. but he was punk of a kid. if he didnt get what he wanted from you, he didnt like it. but this kid was attached to me. i saw that he had skate shoes on and asked him if he skateboarded, he looked up and just smiled, he ran all the way to him friends house to grab his board, and we went to the park, where he skated. hes never had anyone ask to see him skate. he was the happiest kid ever. but shortly lived when his sister reminded him of the rent thats due. they live in one room. on the floor.

every shoe shine boys' story is different. but a lot of them have the same start. a lot of boys have no parents. they have owners who their parents sold to, who they work for. not all boys just shine shoes either. some work in factories making fireworks, in quarries or little shops. some of the older boys who can speak english, also sell drugs. you can tell what boys sell drugs, they have clean hands. the boys are also part of abuse, mentally, physically, and sexual. if they dont bring home enough money from that day back to their owner they get beat. not all owners are this mean. their lives are even more tough in the guatemala city. the police there call it "cleansing" and just shoot street children for no reason. i remember i asked an american tourist what they thought about shoe shine boys, after they got their shoes shined. they said that... oh, they are just cute little boys trying to make a few extra dollars. i just smiled, i didnt want to tell them. but i dont blame them for thinking that at all. when you go to guatemala for vacation, its the nicest place. but underneath all that pretty, there is so much, and too much wrong.

just crazy