Personal Profile: Tuco

Name: Tuco

Age: 5

Grade: Kindergarten (His family doesn't have the money for him to go to school, though)

Family: Señor Carlos (dad), Don't know his mom's name, older Carlos (Brother. Not to be confused with Carlos), Claudia, Gabi (older sisters), Ximena, and Valeria (baby sisters)

Favorite things: Toy cars, cookies, and peanut butter sandwiches.

I met Tuco back on the missions trip in June, but I only got to hang out with him at the soccer ball outreach. I ended up giving him a half-hour piggy-back ride that day. He just wouldn't detach from me (refer to video on the left). Once I finally did detach from him, he didn't really talk to me the rest of the trip, unfortunately. I'm not exactly sure why, but when I tried to play/talk to him, he just wouldn't do much.

Despite that incident, Tuco is definitely one of my favorite kids to be with. He's extremely adorable. At first, he wasn't so adorable. Due to his older sisters, he acted mean and would say things he shouldn't. He hardly acts that way anymore. When he's around his older siblings, he tends to act like them a little, which consists of hitting and cussing. When he's away from them, he's one of the sweetest kids. He's a very funny kid. He'll do things or say things that just make me laugh. He's also pretty affectionate, too. The last week I was there, Tuco would come up to me and hold up his arms for me to pick him up and hold him every single time I saw him. For me, this is one of the most adorable things a kid can do. He also would come up to me and ask me to play "carritos" or "conicas" with him, which I did. He didn't do these things at first, but, after a while, he warmed up to me. He was one of the kids who was really upset about me leaving, besides Carlos, of course.

Due to his older sisters, Tuco sometimes behaves incorrectly, like throwing rocks at people/animals, cussing, and fighting. He wasn't doing those things as much before I left, but that was when I was there. I noticed that he does certain things in fear of his older siblings. He's afraid that if he doesn't do those things, then his brother or sisters will hit him. It's mostly Claudia who does this. I can see that he doesn't want to do those things, but fear of being abused overpowers him. He does do some not-so good things on his own, but who doesn't mess up? He also doesn't have the greatest family life in general. His parents aren't home that much, so he's mostly with his eight year-old sister, Gabi, and that's it. I tend to go over there often during those times when it's just them two to play with them or spend time with them, also making sure that they stay out of trouble. It also seems like he doesn't receive the love or attention from his parents that he should. I am there for him as much as I can be, along with his other siblings, so that they receive the love from their Heavenly Father that they so desperately need.

Please pray for him regarding all of these things, as well as his family as well. His family is one of, possibly THE, poorest family in the area. Their yard isn't very clean, and their house is just a little bit bigger than my bedroom. Also, their family is not Christian, so good morals aren't taught in their home. Please pray that Tuco isn't swayed by his surroundings and that he seeks out the right way to live, and that is with Jesus christ in his life. Pray that I am able to show him that importance. Pray that his family sees the importance of salvation as well.