It has been a very long first week. The definition of an emotional roller coaster. I have attached the finished Newsletter that I have written for Salvando Corazones. Some of the parts have been taken from earlier blogs, but it might give people an update on what has been happening. I will plan on updating more once I finally have some free time. Opening up a safe house is a lot of work and I am glad to have a good group of people to work with so that we can try continue to stay positive and work to complete the mission.
History Has Been Made
June 10th
2013
The Girls Have Arrived
After all the preparation,
the first day has finally arrived. In a country where sex slavery and child
prostitution have been so prevalent for so many years, there is finally a place
for these girls to get help.
After only one day Salvando
Corazones is already making an impact in the lives of the first two girls to
enter the program. It was a long first day for both girls as they drove several
hours to arrive at the safe house. Making things even more difficult one girl
lost her belongings during the transitioning and arrived with nothing expect
for the clothing she was wearing. At first, they were not excited about their
new accommodations. A new room, new clothing, and most problematic, new rules
were not easily accepted by the girls.
By dinner time, almost
magically the tough outer shells were beginning to fade. The girls and
volunteers sat down for a wonderful meal of spaghetti, soup, and salad.
Even after initially being
persistent that she did not eat vegetables (“I am not a rabbit”) by the end of
dinner both girls had sampled the soup and the salad and seemed to enjoy the
spaghetti.
These girls who at first were
unsure if they would be able to accept the rules of the safe house ended the
night helping with dishes and playing Connect Four with several of the
volunteers. It is exciting to see these girls opening up after having been
through a life that required them to build so many emotional barriers for their
own protection.
Week One
The first week has been a
learning experience for everyone involved at the house. Both volunteers and the
girls have had to adapt to the new stresses and rules of living together under
the same roof. Maria’s (Salvando Corazone’s director) mission in the house is
to create a family. A family that lives together, works together, and grows
together. Families do not always see eye to eye and these issues, normally
involving mutual respect and equality, (especially when dealing with locked
cabinets, limited clothing, and shared cleaning duties) have lead to several
house discussions. Even with tensions high, the longest and most emotional
house meeting, occurring Sunday night, still ended positively with everyone at
the table apologizing and going to bed less angry then they were before. Unlike
other shelters, the girls at Salvando Corazones have the opportunity to express
their opinions and be the owners of their own house rules. Group talks and the
sense of family that Maria continues to add to the house, have forced the girls
to change their view on authority and finally begin to have control over their
own lives. After the first Sunday night house meeting, the girls wanted more
trust. The volunteers agreed and new policies with less locks and more freedom
for free time were changed and will stay that way until that trust has been
broken. The give and take from both girls and volunteers has created an
equality that is rare in Costa
Rica
There are so many important
things that need to be taught to these girls. One major task for the volunteers
is working on healthy eating. Neither girl has any real experience with healthy
diets. Sadly their health problems require us to talk to them about these
issues and start enforcing strict diet policy. The lack of fruits and
vegetables as well as the excessive amounts of sugar contribute to both of
their intense stomach pains. The volunteers had to put together a class
nutrition and health. Healthy eating as well as other healthy habits dealing
with cleaning, washing, and table manners are all things that we may take for
granite, yet these girls have never had anyone explain to them. Along with
healthy eating, excise has also been included in the daily routine. The new
healthy initiative included their first morning run where all the girls and
volunteers went for a run in the surrounding hills. Even after a bit of
complaining about the exurbanite number of steep inclines, the girls seems to
enjoy this new healthier lifestyle and are feeling better about their bodies.
Week two becomes more
structured as everyone begins to settle into a routine and feel comfortable in
the new house. After a week of Karaoke night, Lacrosse games, and spa night
(which included facials made from a random assortment of oatmeal and garden vegetables)
both volunteers and girls are ready to get into a normal routine. It has been
amazing seeing how these girls truly want to be part of the Salvando Corazones
family. Both girls are very excited about learning English, and have been
practicing flashcards during their free time. The variety of languages mainly
including Spanish, English, and Dutch makes daily conversation very
interesting. Dinner conversations are in Spanish, along with various English
phrases to continue to teach even outside the official “school time” hours.
Even with all of these positive
aspects, it has still been a difficult first week. It is important that
individuals keep everyone at Salvando Corazones in their thoughts and prayers.
It is very difficult overcoming disorders such as depression and reactive
attachment disorder. Each day is a new struggle wearing on both the girls and
volunteers, and together we all do our best to improve the situation for
everyone around us.
Visitors
The house has been full of
visitors during the first week. Two groups of volunteers came to Salvando
Corazones from Menlo Park , California Costa Rica and
in the United States Costa Rica
Embassy Visit
Thursday, Maria and a
volunteer traveled down to San Jose US
embassy deals with Human Trafficking in Costa Rica US Costa
Rica
It was a very successful
meeting and everyone is excited about working together. The Embassy already has
plans in motion to work on the problem with prosecution of sex crimes in Costa Rica
http://www.ticotimes.net/More-news/News-Briefs/Quepos-mayor-arrested-twice-on-child-pornography-embezzlement-charges-released_Monday-January-16-2012
This is an extremely
important issue for the Embassy, because US citizens are the major consumer.
Around 80% of the Johns are US
citizens that come to Costa
Rica Costa Rica
http://www.cruisebruise.com/cruise_lines_keep_kiddie_prostitute_trade_alive.html
http://www.costaricantimes.com/costa-ricas-hotel-del-rey-now-in-jaco/16155
There were several main goals
for the future that were discussed at the meeting. Salvando Corazones want to
push for a round table discussion that includes all the NGOs, the US United States Costa Rica Costa Rica
Community Education Project
With the house finally open,
Salvando Corazones has also begun to work on community education. On Friday,
Maria, along with a new volunteer Matthew Villemain, taught their first class
on Personal Body Safety. This class is a Child Abuse Prevention class which
they have titled “Yo soy el dueño de mi cuerpo”. The class focused on defining
good touching vs bad touching, good secrets vs bad secrets, and then what to do
if you feel uncomfortable 1) Say no 2) Find a safe place 3) Talk to a safe
adult. In a classroom of 18 children, nine individuals came to talk afterwards,
discussing anything from bullying, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. The class was
taught twice to two different age groups and had positive feedback from the
students as well as the teacher. One child confided that he was glad that we
talked to his class and he was going to talk to his entire family especially to
try to help his cousin who was being abused by an uncle. Simply affecting this
one child gave purpose to all the hard work that has gone into planning and
teaching the new curriculum.
What Must Happen Next?
We need your help. Now that
Salvando Corazones is officially open, there is no time to rest. It is
imperative that doors stay open and more girls continue to arrive. Everything
from food, energy, water, and (finally after a lot of hard work) a house
payment, requires funds. These girls need a safe place to rebuild their lives
and the combination of structure and love provided by the amazing volunteers is
the key to help these girls survive. It takes a village raise a child, and sadly
even more help to repair a child after the damages of sex slavery and
prostitution. Fund raising continues to be the key to allowing the work done as
Salvando Corazones to continue and affect the girls who need a loving and
caring home so badly.
Also, please like us on
Facebook and continue to read the vast number of updates and news articles that
are being posted. The only way to stop sex trafficking and child prostitution
is to increase awareness, especially in the United States
Things to do:
Volunteer with us:
Facebook: Salvando Corazones
Salvando Corazones
Donate online at
www.salvandocorazones.org
Sorry that the Newsletter is so long
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