Lionel is a very unusual young teen. He has been through a lot, though. When he was a young boy, for some reason, his father got angry at him and held his hand down in boiling water! When we found out about this, we took him in, took care of his burn, and then, called the Social Services and told them what had happened. They told us to “keep the child” if possible, and of course, we did.

Lionel’s hand did not heal well… for years, he could not bend his fingers to make a fist. He felt that all the kids were making fun of him. But one day, we found a great “hand surgeon,” in the Dominican Republic, thanks to Jesse Ostrander, who works with us. They did a fragile surgery on his hand and fingers. Now, he can bend his hand and hold something, like normal kids. So, some of his chores are “cleaning our machines!”

Yonel (his nickname), is a hard-working young teen. He desires to be a mechanic. His daily job includes cleaning the vehicles and doing anything he is told to do. He loves playing soccer and basketball, something he thought he could never do. Lionel is in the 9th grade. He does a great job on whatever he is working on. He is a little on the “shy side,” like “Poppie Bobby,” (HA!). We all love Lionel (Yonel)!

Sherry