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...