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| This is me and my tummy at 27 weeks |
So, here I am, sitting in front of the fireplace with lots of time to catch you up on some Dulce Refugio news. =) I mentioned in one of my previous blogs that in March we had an answer to prayer when Yenny, a psychologist, came to work in Dulce Refugio. It has been the most amazing blessing and so exciting to see the changes in the childrens' room, the teachers, some of the children and their mothers since she has come. She has taken over the majority of coordination in the childrens' room, working very closely with the teachers as they had to work through mayor discipline issues and teach the children to respect authority and other children as well. It's no easy task when you are dealing with many kids that do not come regularly AND come from homes filled with violence or abuse. It's been wonderful to see Yenny working with these children, teaching them how to play with each other, learn that there are limits and that above all, we LOVE them despite the limits and discipline we give them. There are so many stories I could share with you.. but today I want to tell you about Cristian and Sofia.
These 2 children were literally our worst fear. =) When they would walk into Alto Refugio, the staff would cringe and the teachers knew they were in for a tough day! Cristian is 6 years old and Sofia is 4. Victoria, the mother, is one of the hardest, most violent women I have ever met. She basically grew up on the streets and in prostitution. She never knew what love was in her childhood. Her mother beat her up and her family relationships were disastrous. Victoria was raped by her own brother and Cristian was fruit of that act. Some time later, Victoria moved in with her boyfriend and Sofia was born... but their home was no safe place. The kids witnessed many beatings, verbal abuse and violence and lived out those actions in Dulce Refugio. They had no tolerance for frustration and any time there was any attempt in controlling or calming down their violent actions or a string of bad words.. it would only get worse.
During the time Sofia was growing up, Victoria felt there was no other option then to go into prostitution in order to get money to feed her kids. She finally got out of the relationship with Sofia's father and moved into a little shack far away from the city. But, that little shack was burnt to the ground with most of her belongings (story almost sounds unreal, eh?). At this point, Victoria is now pregnant once again and her and her 2 kids are homeless. They moved into a house with one of Victoria's friends and she started to come daily with her children so that she could work (selling sandwiches and clothing at Alto Refugio) and get together some money to keep her children fed. Of course it helped that she and the children get breakfast and lunch at Alto Refugio, plus they get a weekly bag of food products to take home. Cristian was admitted into a public school a couple blocks away from Alto Refugio and so by March, Victoria was coming everyday with her children and in the afternoon Cristian goes from Alto Refugio to his school.
This of course was where the challenge began in the children's room! But... it was the best thing that could happen for us and for them! We now had.. and have.. the chance to work with them on a daily basis. For the first time in their lives, they were loved unconditionally, treated with respect and taught with patience instead of slaps on the head. It didn't take long for them to start responding positively to this interaction and the changes have been undeniable! So much so that Victoria made a deeper commitment with the Lord and is now doing a weekly Bible Study at Alto Refugio... when asked if she wanted to take this step and if she believed in God, she said, "Look at my kids and the way they have changed in the last months! If God can do that in their lives then I know and believe He exists and I want to follow Him!" Victoria is a work in progress.. we still have our collisions with her temper and see her struggling to learn how to love her children... but she is determined and the hard layers of her heart are slowly being peeled away.
God touched my heart deeply when it dawned on me once again what an impact we can be on the children's lives and their parents as well, when God does His transforming work through our lives! Please continue to pray for these children as they grow and get to know more of God's love. Pray for Victoria, that her heart will continue to soften to His healing touch. Pray for Yenny and the teachers as they face the daily challenge of working with these children. They need wisdom, strength and energy to keep up the good work!
May God continue bless your lives... thank you for sowing into ours through your prayers, financial support or whatever other way God leads you to.
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| Yenny playing barbies in her office with one of our girls... |
