Maria's Story

a victim's story

(names have been changed)

It's been 6 months, yet I cannot get my mind off the little girl in Honduras. She is in second grade. The government asked me to visit several communities in dire need. One of these communities is located way up in the mountains of Honduras. The parents of the children make a living by selling garbage. Daily they sift through trash trying to find things to sell. The government built a school so the children could learn, have somewhere to go during the day. Well, I had no idea what I was walking into. On top of being asked to speak to a class of second and third graders, I was asked by the police and the teacher to deal with two molestation cases. After school, we drove to Maria's (not her real name) home and confronted the father. I'd already counseled with Maria who drew me pictures of what was being done by her father and uncles. He met us holding a machete, no shirt, and very upset. It was a bad situation because I had seven police officers with me and two of them were looking for any excuse to use their weapons. In the one-bedroom dirt floor house, the heat was stifling; and the smoke from the fire was not helpful. My time with the dad was more like an interrogation session and after two grueling hours of discussions with him; tension began to build on both sides. I had been given the authority by the government to go and assess the situation and do what I could do, So I could not allow anything to go wrong or I would be held accountable.

Now here's where I got stuck. The best thing that I could do for Maria at that moment was leave her with the person who has been raping her and allowing others to do the same. The only places available for Maria and children like her are a state run institution or prison. The police told me in both places she would be abused even more than she was. Walking away from her was tragic.

In reading about Maria, I hope you might be able to understand the deep agony and the darkness that children like her live in. Daily we work to meet the needs of children like Maria.