I'd almost forgotten to blog this. Several weekends ago, I volunteered for a project that Neighborhood Ministries, a local charity, put together. Teens who come to their center went out in teams of two (plus a photographer) to interview residents of their neighborhood. Now, this center serves a portion of the Phoenix barrio that is extemely poor and gritty. The purpose of this project was to find out how the neighborhood had changed since the interview subjects had lived in the area and how they felt about these changes. These were two of the men the kids interviewed. Their stories (and faces) were very interesting.






I found it very interesting as we walked the sidewalks to hear the teens point out matter-of-factly that "this house is where there were two dead bodies dumped in the yard last year" and "down this alley is the local crack house" or "there's the meth lab." Having led a sheltered life myself, I was somewhat taken aback at their candor and acceptance of the violence that surrounds them. It was an altogether eye-opening experience. I have such great respect for these teens who've survived living in this neighborhood and are doing something positive about it. Those kids were terrific and I really enjoyed spending the morning with them.