He was an angry child, an orphan who grew up in the social welfare system. Fredrico had watched his mother die right in front of him. His father killed her and Fredrico knew he was next. He fled out the door, his skinny legs pumping and kicking puffs of dust up along the street. He could hear the heavy thud of his dad running after him. He jumped between cars and scrambled up into a big truck. He stammered to the driver to get him out of there as fast as possible –anywhere. He had to save his life.
That is when Fredrico came to our town almost 20 years ago. He couldn’t adjust to the government’s home for kids and eventually fell in with the cartel. One night, he got a girl pregnant. Donato was born from that spur of the moment fling, despite the fact that his mother tried to commit suicide while he was still in the womb.
Later, Donato went to live with his grandmother. As he began to get older, his dad, Fedrico, kept coming around to teach Donato important life skills, like stealing, and other activities appropriate to a man of the cartel. When his dad ended up in jail, we had an opportunity to get him into our custody. He’s been training in our semi-pro soccer program and is in 9th grade now. This is a long story made short but, hopefully, it gives you a look into the world of the young men we are assisting through our program in Mexico.
Though Donato’s story may not be as dramatic as some of the others we have told, if a young man like Donato didn’t come to us, chances are he would be a drug addict working as a thug and assassin for the cartel right now. Preventative programs work. They keep kids from painful experiences and from doing things they will hate themselves for later.
If this story connects with you, please purchase a set of our Mexico dog tags (HERE) and tell the story of Donato and the many cartel kids of Mexico’s drug wars. Or join our monthly giving campaign at $7 a month (HERE).
With gratitude –the PAK47 team in Mexico.