Rote is full of churches. But for many young people, Sunday ends, and nothing else is waiting for them.
Rote is a majority-Christian island with a strong religious heritage. But for many people, faith stays on the pew. Monday through Saturday tells a different story — gambling, homemade alcohol, drugs, smoking. Kids start at 8 or 9, simply because there's nothing else to do.
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). The verse cuts both ways. Without mentorship, without purpose, without alternatives — children get trained too. Just by the wrong things.
This isn't about bad kids. It's about missing structure. No safe places to play sports. No one teaching English after school. No adult outside the family who actually knows their name. "Bad company corrupts good character" (1 Corinthians 15:33) — and good company, where you can find it, changes everything.
"A nine-year-old boy told me, with a grin, that he was already smoking. He didn't know anything else was possible for him."
— Field notes, Rote 2025
