Adinfa

This is a feeding project for neighborhood kids who are mostly from very poor single mom families. In order to qualify for the program, the families must have an income of less than $200 per month = $7 per day. 80% of the kids are from unstable homes.

The kids' moms have to go to work to earn money for the family. In some cases, they have legitimate jobs, and in others, they may be working the streets.

There is no money for a babysitter, so the kids are left to take care of one another. It is common to have 6 or 8 month old babies left at home, watched by a 6 or 8 year old sibling.

Gina, the lady serving at Adinfa, told us that she sometimes feeds 12 year-old moms. Generally, the girls do not become mothers by choice, but because their families have pushed them into prostitution in order to raise money for the family. Everyone must find a way to eat.

Today's meal was spaghetti noodles (no sauce), white rice and red beans. Funds are short and food prices have risen, so this is the best she can do.

A group from Washington recently built a locked food storage room with new steel racks. It is a great place to store food for the kids. Today, there were 12-20 lb sacks of rice on the shelves. Gina says there is sometimes more food available minutes away, but there is no way to get to it because there is no one in her neighborhood who owns a car, and cabs are far too expensive.

Around the corner from Adinfa, we passed a funeral for a young man who was killed last week for his cell phone. Outside the funeral parlor, tennis shoes hanging from the power lines, identifying that street as a place to buy drugs.

No food to eat, no parents to supervise. That's how young people become street kids or get pulled into drugs or prostitution. Gina, for 8 years, has been a daily refuge and source of love and nourishment for these kids.

Through the help of people like you, Gina has been abel to provide one meal a day after school for 75 kids. An internet station, with 6 computers, was donated and has been set up for the children to use and learn on. A team of Americans had turned a rubbish pile into a garden the kids can enjoy.

She can feed 75 kids for $750/month or $10/child per month or $120/year.

What are Gina’s dreams for these children?

She would like to add a commercial oven and kitchen equipment to use it to teach the girls a skill and open a bakery for the neighborhood. To add a room to her center will provide activities for the kids, and a place for them to go so that the streets are no longer their playground. Maybe even to move the computers next to the bakery and open an internet café.

Every meal Gina’s helpers share a devotional with kids and a meal prayer. As they leave Adinfa, not a child passes through the door without a hug and kiss from Gina. Gina’s husband passed away this winter, the kids at Adinfa receive her generous love, but there is only so much she can do on her own. Your help could make such a significant difference.

Costa Rica

Footsteps Missions

Adinfa