JUAN JOSE SIMMONDS FERNANDIS of PUERTO VIEJO

JUAN, A MAN WITH A SACRED HEART

In Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, residents and visitors alike take notice of Juan. He can be seen in the early morning hours sweeping the properties of local businesses or picking up and hauling away mounds of trash. He is a helper, and in many ways a sharer. His appearance gives the impression that he has nothing of worth to share. He is often shunned. He is sometimes ridiculed, but rarely appreciated for the value he possesses. However, if you take time to listen with not only your ears, but also with your heart, you will find that beneath the somewhat soiled, and sometimes tattered clothing, there is a man with a heart. He is Juan, a man with a sacred heart.

I was to interview Juan a few days ago. After I had prepared a small table in a shaded garden setting, I waited. I looked forward to the interview. He had requested an interview some weeks ago because he wanted to share his mission. Having had brief smidgets of conversations with Juan, I perceived that he had had a very interesting life. I wanted to hear about his life and his intriguing mission. I had only had conversations with Juan as he collected trash from the can at the front door of my family's home in Costa Rica. A few times I chatted briefly with him as I passed by him during the start of my morning walks. He was always cordial and wished me a good day.

Because I would be leaving Costa Rica to return to the states within a few days, I scheduled the interview for a few days before my departure. I had carefully chosen the setting. I wanted the setting to be in a part of the garden where flowers were in bloom. To me, it was symbolic contrast to Juan's disheveled appearance to what I saw beyond that. I wanted to have the setting depict the beauty that I believed to find within the heart of this man.

The interview did happen, but not on the day originally scheduled. I waited for Juan to appear at the gate for his scheduled interview. The time passed, and there was no Juan. That was surprising because he had been excited about the opportunity to share his story. I was concerned. Juan's lifestyle and questionable health were reasons for concern. Although I did not actually think that he might be dead, I did think he might be sick, injured or incapacitated. After 2 days of quasi looking for him, I was relieved to learn that he was neither sick nor dead. He had been maybe injured and possibly incapacitated because he had been in a fight. Now I became annoyed. When I saw him, he was sincerely apologetic, so I agreed to reschedule the interview. I quasi threatened him that he needed to make sure he made better choices. If he did not show up, I would not be willing to interview him ever again. I think I was kidding, but maybe not.

On the morning of the rescheduled interview, Juan did show up. For the first time since knowing him, his hair was combed, he was relatively groomed and clean. He wore a new white linen shirt. He had taken this appointment seriously and he had made a huge effort to reflect the value of himself and his story. In this interview, at least for the moment, he was no longer Juan, Puerto Viejo's trash collecting addict. Today, he was JUAN JOSE SIMMONDS FERNADIS, a man with a sacred heart.

(Look forward to more entries detailing Juan's intriguing mission.)