Wonder Changes the World

He came from a world so different from my own. Gangs, drugs, violence. Fear. Fear he tried to strangle with a tough-guy exterior and tattoos that weren’t entirely covered by the long sleeves of his hoodie.

He was 15 years old.

Too young to spend every day, every minute looking over his shoulder, waiting to be jumped, shot, or knifed. Too young to need the rough gang persona to survive.

He stepped out of the city’s car with three other kids and shuffled, pants hanging low, down the path to our barn.

Breath of fresh air

The city’s street team worker stepped beside me. “Juan almost didn’t come.”

“I’m glad he did.”

She nodded. Once a month, she brought gangimpacted youth to our Wonder Wood Ranch to ride horses, do archery, and get out of the gang environment for a few hours.

Typically, I could see the difference in them the moment they stepped from the car. Their shoulders relaxed, they stopped fidgeting, and they forgot, for a time, they had to be hyper-vigilant to get by.

By Dr Thomas A. Peterson