Meeting the girls

(Sam)
Since the elections are now over, Rita has had a lot more time and we've been able to talk a lot more about how to reach girls, which girls, and how the house will be structured etc. We have started visiting a few, which has been a real privilege but also heart-wrenching, meeting the girls themselves who are the faces of the stories we've heard. For each one it seems impossible that someone so young could have already lived through so much.

A fifteen-year old that we've spent quite a bit of time with, and wrote about in the last group email has now disappeared again, moving up and down the nearby towns along the motorway and staying with friends or anywhere she can find. Her family is distraught and desperately wants her to get out of this town and get help. We're waiting for her to appear again before talking through the possibilities with her. Please pray that she can believe just a tiny bit in the possibility of hope for her future and make the choice to get out...also that we can actually find somewhere that will truly provide all that she needs to be healed from past traumas and start to build a new life.

We met up with another younger teenager tonight and it was such a privilege to sit with her - she really is a very special one, has huge potential and an extremely likeable character! As I said before, it is beyond my imagination to link this lovely girl with all that we've heard she's been through already at her young age, and the way that she lives at the moment. We met the whole family, quite a mixed bunch, and then sat for a while teaching her a few chords on the guitar - it was great watching the transformation from frustration and lack of concentration to then being so chuffed once she persevered and learnt three all at once. My next task is to research her favourite artist so that I can teach her an actual song next time! It's going to be a funny moment!

While Rita is at work in the mornings at the Children's Council we have been given the go ahead to decorate and kit out the whole of the Pink House. The last few weeks have been quite a mix - frustration with the time it takes and the tedium or roundabout ways of getting things done!but also amazing to see things really coming together now...I think probably by the end of this week nearly everything will be in place. We've had Rita's nephew Washington helping us out, and here are some of the photos of the work in progress...

Claire in the hair salon

Sam painting the lounge

Washington fixing the TV in the dance room

How Not To Paint Your Wall (our house, not the pink house!)

                                                 Step 1: Mix your paint (cast your spells?!)

                                         
                                           Step 2: Test your colours (with much deliberation)

                                             Step 3: Spill half of your precisely-mixed paint

                                 Step 4: Paint the wrong wall (it was meant to be the one on the left!)

Whilst Seated On The Comode

(Claire)

I know that we’ve not yet written much on the blog about the work that we’re doing here! We’ve realised that it’s going to take time to work out how much we can say about the girls, the town and the development of the project... There are lots of different factors to take into account which make writing honestly seem a bit of a minefield! One factor is that all of the girls here have access to the internet and so could easily google translate what’s being said…as could anyone else in this small town where everybody knows everybody. Identifying a girl wouldn’t take long with a bit of description about where she lives and her family. The police, politicians and anyone else who’s interested to know what’s being said and exposed about their town would also have access to read what’s written. And so, we're working out bit by bit how to get into a rhythm of writing in a way that protects both the girls and our team, whilst being honest and sharing what’s really happening…

There have been lots of challenges over the last couple of weeks, on all fronts! However, in the midst of that the Pink House is receiving it's final touches with lots of colourful (pink!!!) walls and pink cushions! (Photos to follow soon!) We’ve been praying that we would have opportunities to meet the girls who are most caught up in exploitation and are most in need, and in response to that we’ve had two awesome times of ‘bumping into’ girls around town who we highly suspect are involved and are friends with Leticia… they’re all really interested in the project, and we’re going to see if we can start visiting them more over the next few weeks. We’re going to be spending our Saturday nights on the streets to give more opportunity to meet girls, and are really enjoying time spent with Leticia :) Last time we were in her house I made one of those snap-decisions to sit on an old rusty commode that she had in the garden… I didn’t make the link between the ailing grandmother and the comode – or perhaps I did but the beaming invitation of a seat in the hot sun was too much to resist. After about two minutes of swinging my legs (it was taller than I expected!) and chatting to Leticia I started to notice a wet sensation on the top of my right leg… I was determined to remain neutral in my facial expressions as I realised that the commode was very much still active, and had hidden its urinary gems within the plastic seat - to the dismay of any unsuspecting passer by needing a sit down! Next time I'll go for the reliable floor option...