A Plea to the Father of the Fatherless

Sometimes there are no easy answers; sometimes there are no answers at all.  This is one of those times.  I got a call from Rogelio this morning:  "The two girls disappeared a week ago; they just found them at the bottom of a ravine."  Of course, I assumed that the three of them were dead.  I say "three" because one of the girls is pregnant.  Rogelio tells me that he's going out there to meet with authorities and see what happened and will call me as soon as he knows something.  I pace by the phone and impatiently call him a million times anyway, "Any news yet?"  While I waited, the thought crossed my mind that if they were dead, at least they were with Jesus and no one could ever hurt them again. I was almost happy for them; their lives here are torturous. 

I have known these 2 girls (who we'll call Rosa and Mari to protect their privacy) for quite a while now.  They live with their well-into-her-80's grandmother who loves them and does the best she can and with their mother who has some serious special needs. Their mother was repeatedly raped as a young woman because that's just what happens to people with special needs here; her 2 girls are a result of that abuse and do not know their father.  Both also have special needs.  Mari, the youngest, is the sweetest girl; you never find her without a shy smile on her face. Her older sister is the same. 

In fact, couple years ago, a man beat Rosa's face with his fists, a rock, and a log because she accidentally wandered onto his property in search of firewood.  Jessie went with me to their house to try to patch her up.  Even in great pain with 2 black eyes and her mouth full of infection, she still tried to smile at us.

A few months ago, 15 year old Mari was raped by a family member and got pregnant.   They came to me for help and asked me to fix it...to fix generations of systemic poverty and abuse.  As much as I wanted to, there is no fix for that.  All I had to offer was pre-natals, extra food, baby supplies, and a hug, but each time I took a step closer to Mari, she smiled at me and took a giant step back.  She knows who I am, but the trust in people is gone.  There really isn't anything else I can do for them.  They refuse to go to the authorities and denounce the rapist for fear of retribution.  How are a grandma and 3 special needs women supposed to defend themselves?  We debated taking Mari to a doctor, but doctors are obligated to turn in reports when they have minors who are pregnant...investigations can be opened by very untrustworthy government entities...Mari, who only speaks Mam, could have been removed from the only home she'd ever known and moved to one of the government-run hellholes that are supposed to be safe houses for girls.  It didn't seem to be the right thing to do.  We were still pondering and praying when the girls disappeared. 

The good news is that the girls are not dead; they just happened to turn up at the bottom of a ravine.  We don't know if they were pushed (an attempt by the father to get rid of the baby?) or if they were kidnapped. Authorities think that an old man took them both to be his "wives," which means he wanted sex with two disabled girls whenever he wanted it without fear of punishment.  Sicko.  The only thing we do know for sure is that they've been gone for a week, and no one knows what happened to them during that time.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say it was nothing good. The authorities are involved now.  I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but in either case, it does remove me from the equation in that I will no longer have any input as to what happens to Mari. Maybe that's a good thing since I didn't have any answers anyway.  

I wish I could help you to understand how difficult it is to live in a land with zero justice for the poor, for the oppressed, for those with special needs, for women, for children...there just is no justice here AT ALL.  I don't remember the exact figure, but I do know that it's more than 95%....MORE THAN 95% of crimes in this country go unpunished.  People do what they want with impunity.  And it's sickening.  

Thankfully, this is not a permanent situation.  There is One who sees it all; it won't go unpunished forever.  " Oh Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more."  Please, God, have mercy.  Defend them.  Protect them.  Vindicate them.  May the baby be blessed with a different life than her mother, and her grandmother, and her great grandmother, and her great great grandmother have had.