Intervention

As a brave soul, I let me curiosity take me into places I should not always be in.  This always happens with the desire to learn about people. Also, to make myself available to them as people gravitate towards me and his spirit.  People want to share intimate details about their life, they want advice, they want help, they want acknowledgement, they want to learn, they want to feel good, and they want to feel cared about and loved.

With this said, I went wondering through the houses to see a worn down house with a porch full of brown wooden boards all in a pile. Behind it, I found a man passed out and with a beer bottle laying on the ground. I tapped on the shoulder and he jumped up. I greeted him kindly and he was confused as to who I was and what I was doing there.  He kindly said, "Excuse me" and turned away to fix his hair and button up his shirt.  He looked Filipino, but clearly he was part of the local Mayan tribe.  He was thin with a dark dress shirt all wrinkled and beat up khaki cargo pants. He had a nice kind face and feet with no shoes. 

He presented with paranoia and anxiety and he said loudly, "Who sent you here?"

He was stuttering and said, "Did the police send you?"

He couldn't understand why I was there and I simply told him,
 "I just want to talk to you." 

I patted his shoulder and smiled and we sat down on the steps to the house.  He shared that this was his house that he owns with his wife.  His wife takes care of him and loves him even with all the drinking.  After a few questions, his drinking problem quickly rose to the surface.  We discussed his alcohol consumption, habits, reason for drinking, impact on family, etc. He opened up and shared his desires to quit(most addicts are great manipulators saying they will quit and they never do). 
To confirm, his interest in quitting drinking, he took the empty beer bottles on the ground and threw them away.  He then asked me to come towards the tree and I did. He cut a mango for me and then cut a big coconut for me to drink and one for himself.  

There we were outside the formal setting of social work, in the village, sharing a coconut and a one hour session together. 
It's hard to come up with substitute activities for a client when they are living in a village-it's limited.  However, the inspiration and religious component is priceless.  When I asked if he believed in Jesus, he shook his head and said, "Yes, oh yes." When I gave my inspiration speech about life and living it fully. When the body lives well, our life finds a way to live well too.
It was lunchtime and time for him to go home to his wife. His smile, his handshake, and his heart thanked me.

       One great moment in a sea of many PRIS