Winding through this maze were dirt paths or wider unpaved roads, some of which led steeply uphill and downhill. The short walk to our premises took 10 minutes; they are located right in the heart of Balerio Estacio, one of Guayaquil’s many poor neighborhoods. There, our team runs daily programs for children and adults in the neighborhood and leads a small Christian church. 
The path led past several food stalls, houses, and shacks, past something that resembled a bar, and past a half-open door guarded by a woman. Behind it was a snooker hall that everyone in the neighborhood knew was also a place where you could get drugs and other things. 

On the hilltops, young adults stood with walkie-talkies, seemingly positioned at random at intersections and key points. They belong to the drug gangs that are currently spreading more and more throughout the neighborhoods. They control the routes and report who enters or leaves the neighborhood. My presence as a foreigner was also reported. Since I was accompanied by our local team, who are well-known in the neighborhood, I had nothing to fear, even though someone had been murdered there just two days earlier. 

On another day, we visited various people who attend our programs and prayed for protection for their homes and families in this tense situation.

When we arrived at a hilltop, a small group of teenagers was frantically packing up their things; a radio crackled, we suddenly sensed a lot of movement in the immediate vicinity, and suddenly a broad-shouldered man dressed in dark clothes pulled up on a motorcycle. From the way the others respectfully made way for him, it was immediately clear that he was the “boss” of the area. He wanted to know what we were doing there. But then his expression softened when he recognized one of our team. “Oh, you’re praying here again, aren’t you?” It was more of a statement than a question. That defused the situation, and we were able to continue on our way.

In this environment, our team works every day to offer children and young people alternatives to drug dealing and other criminal paths. They navigate these dangers masterfully and cautiously to open up a future with prospects for the local people. This is a cause close to their—and our—hearts. To me, they are the everyday heroes of the neighborhood.

If you want to know what our project in Ecuador is all about, you can read about it here: https://tos-ministries.org/en/branches/street-children/drug-and-crime-prevention#c29528