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The only constant in life is change...

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Hope...

Two weeks and counting...Still intense, still rewarding, but now reality is settling in. I'm here at Maiti Nepal 6 days a week, 7 hours a day. When my day ends, I go home, laugh with my family, and try to leave the stories out of my mind until I go back to work the next day. I've realized this is the best way to handle my situation here...just leave the work thoughts and emotions at work, and start a whole new rack of emotions and memories at home.
There are about 200-250 victims here...not all are victims of trafficking...some have run away from home and brought here by the police, some are lost and are here waiting to be found by their family, and some are children of the victims. When walking around by myself, I always try to observe the residents here and imagine what their story could be; and honestly, it's so hard to tell. Maiti Nepal has done such a wonderful job at creating a setting where everyone feels like they are on the same level, and no one belittles anyone, no matter what their history is. They are all given small chores to do, all fed the same food, and all must follow the same rules. The only thing expected from them is to behave properly by following the rules, and either go to school or train yourself to eventually have a career. There is a girl that I have grown to be an acquaintance with...I met her my first day here and she was very quiet and barely looked at me, but the next day she smiled, and slowly started say hi and making small talk. Now, I speak to her almost every time we see each other. We talk about the weather, what I ate, my family and her son. Her son goes to school here and is spoiled by everyone's love. She has told me about how she loves to sing and dance, and often performs at the small programs hosted by the organization. I have heard her sing, she sings beautifully, and she told me recently that she has also started to write her own song....Just like this I have gotten really comfortable with her.
Out of no where one day, when talking to her I felt like I have seen here somewhere but pushed my thoughts aside because maybe I was just having weird deja vu? But you know when you get a certain feeling sometimes and CANT seem to push it aside? Well, that's what happened to me...I could not get her out of my mind, so I asked the Counselor here. To my surprise, I HAD seen her before! Her story was one of the stories included in the documentary done by CNN. I could NOT believe it. When I had heard her story while watching the documentary in the US, I had shook my head in disbelief and wondered how she was still strong enough to live with the memories?!
She had been trafficked twice by the age of 12, had her kidney stolen and sold by an organ seller and had a son. I remember her story through watching the documentary, and she has been through hell and back. When she was a prisoner at the brothel, she was constantly beaten, burned with cigarettes, and they had also poured hot water on her if she refused or argued with the owners/ pimps. Not only were they cruel to her, but their evil extended so far that they were also heartless towards her son. Her 18 month son at that time was kept in a separate building from her, and when he cried, they burned cigarettes on his tongue. I had never thought that one could be so evil and heartless towards a child. He's a toddler for God's sake?! How can you be so heartless to burn a child's tongue?! Because of their cruelty, her son could not speak properly and is so traumatized that he is very afraid to even come close to a stranger. When you think of evil you only think it happens in movies. Evil like Cinderella's step mother or Voldemort in Harry Potter... You never imagine such villains to actually exist and hearing a true story about it really shakes up your world... How does one become so cruel? And it's crazy because some if these real life villains actually have daughters and children of their own? How are they able to burn cigarettes on toddlers and rape 12 year olds when they have their own children?! I believe in Karma, and though my belief is being tested right now, I still have hope for it and I pray to God that these evil, horrible, heartless beings get what they deserve and ten times worse.
I am not sure if the criminals have gotten exactly what they deserved, but the victim and her son have turned their life around. After escaping from the brothel and coming to Maiti Nepal the victim has been able to find the courage with the help from the counseling center in Maiti Nepal and tell her story not only to CNN but also be able to tell an author who turned it into a book about her struggle. Though she maybe well known, she doesn't know it or care about it AT ALL. She is happy to be able to inform other girls about trafficking and maybe save them through her stories, but she is even happier in Maiti Nepal where she has lived for 4 years and is able to sing, and dance and be around people who love her for who she is. She earns a living for herself as a gardener and is always telling me how much she loves knowing that the plants are thriving and beautiful because of her. Her son is also much happier here. He goes for speech therapy and is improving everyday, goes to school, and is always running around and causing trouble with his peers like children should be doing.

Everything I have seen, heard, and experienced here is just unbelievable... It gives me hope, and hopefully everyone else hope not to give up. Don't give up on hope, don't give up in your dreams and don't ever give up on yourself. No matter how bad your day is, remember good will come. Be patient, and don't give up...it will come.

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