class. One day we were talking about emotion words and the students had to
create sentences on the board. She wrote a sentence but not all the words were
in English, so I asked her to explain. It said something like, I feel angry
when I remember what my father did to me. With tears in her eyes, she turned to
me. I put my arm around her as tears ran down her face then she turned away.
Her friend, who was in the class, drew a simple picture on the board to help
explain. My heart dropped. I knew he had raped her.
Later I asked our pastor about her story. Just over a year ago, her father
began to rape her and her sisters daily, but it was sometime before her mother
left with the children. Her father was unfaithful while married to her mother
and slept with many women. He became HIV+. Her mother contracted HIV, and this
young woman is afraid to get tested and hear the same thing.
Her father left them with no money. They couldn’t keep her in school and
sometimes they go without eating. Her mother can’t work, because she is sick.
She can’t go to school because they don’t have money…it is just so hard for
me to see this and not do something.
Without support she won’t return to school, without an education her
options for work are so limited. I want to help her, but right now I am unable
to support her on my own. School fees are $100/three months of school. That is
just about $33/month.
in such a small way, but it will make a huge difference.
