We were busy today. The school where we conducted our outreach was again in the town of Chincha - some two hours from the Union Biblica Camp Kawai. When we arrived at the school (a very poor school in a community that was strongly impacted by the coastal earthquake in the winter of 2007) the director and her administrators had set up a reception tent and convened all of the elementary classes into a reception. We were greeted with music, speeches of appreciation and excitement and rousing rounds of applause from 500 of our newest 5-8 year old friends.
After our celebration we quickly got down to business. Our task for the day was a rather big affair - we needed to see as many children from the morning school "shift" (in Peru, many of the rural and poorer community schools will hold multiple academic shifts during the day to accommodate all of the children who require instruction) before the afternoon group showed up. We were, in so many words, in a big hurry.
As the day progressed we went through a few rounds of chaos - but eventually settled into a very nice rhythm. Late in the day I was called to help with a patient in another part of the school. While I was gone, my colleague from Union Biblica (Mr. Billy Clark - a fantastic young man, but that is a whole other story) started to talk with one of the last parents waiting in line with their children. She was a young woman, perhaps not older than 28 years of age. She told Billy a story that would become the focus for all that we are trying to do.
The young woman told Billy about the 5 children that she was taking care of. She told him that her sister had abandon the kids. She said that her sister had led a very chaotic life - and ultimately had 5 children with 5 different men, but now wanted nothing to do with the kids and left them for her to take care of. She was overwhelmed and did not any idea what to do.
We recognized that the needs of this "family" were great. Dr. Bob Gehringer, HBI's project director and the campaign's medical director, along with Billy and Alan Alcouser from Union Biblica, met with the young mother at the end of the clinic. They later retold much of their meeting to our group this evening.
The story, as best they could understand, goes something like this - no longer interested in caring for her children, the mother of the 5 kids one day left all of them with her sister. She had, as the sister told Billy and Dr. Bob, been irresponsible with the children's care for a long time. The sister described emotional, physical and suspected sexual abuse to our team. She told them that the children had recently been struggling with emotional outbursts and problems in school.
She told told Dr. Bob and Billy that she had been trying to work with the government to get the necessary paper work to take over custody of the children - but had run into issues because none of the children had a birth certificate or a Peruvian identification card (similar to a U.S. Social Security card). The sister told Billy and Bob that she was unable to get the proper paperwork completed on the children to retrieve their birth certificates because all of the children had been born in different hospitals under different men's names. Without the proper paperwork - the children could not be enrolled in a new school (they are having a significant amount of troubles at their current school) or be eligible for state funded health insurance. Without the proper paperwork, the children had little options for a future. The young woman was frustrated and had come to the end of her rope.
Today, when Bob and Billy were telling us about their meeting with the young woman, they both remarked (on more than one occasion) how much they felt like the young woman really just needed someone to talk with. She really needed to speak to someone that would listen to her story. Billy said that the woman told him that she had told her story many times - but always felt like people were not listening to her or did not care.
The reality of the situation is that without a caring Aunt, these children would more than likely be on the streets. The reality of the situation is that without a little bit of help, the family might completely fall apart. Our goal in working with the family will be to help to advocate for their needs. We will start by having our partners from Union Biblica meet with the young woman again to completely document her steps for seeking custody of the children. We will use the skills and talents of HBI's lawyer, Dr. Daniel Bueno Rojas, to help legally advocate for the children.
We do not know how this story will end. Our hope is that we can be receptive to the needs of the children and the young woman and help to advocate in a meaningful and proactive way. Our goal is that we will prevent any further harm to these precious lives.
Sometimes it is really hard to know if we are making a difference. Sometimes I wonder if we are using our resources to their greatest extent. Today I know that everything that we have done this week is worth it. I know that we are making a difference.
Thank you for your support.
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