Sexual Violence is Real….

This blog post has been rolling around in my mind for a little while now. A couple weeks ago I started seeing a lot of posts on Facebook about Penn State and Joe Paterno. Here in Bolivia, I am almost always out of the loop regarding news. Mostly because I use our limited Internet time to write and read personal emails. Curious, I did a Google search and eventually stumbled on the original story regarding PSU. What a tragic story- not simply due to the abuse that occurred, but because people knew about it (or at least suspected it) and did NOTHING. The abuse could have been prevented or stopped, but it wasn’t because people were SILENT. 

For me, the story held a strong connection to my work here in Bolivia. Three weeks ago I started working at CUBE- Centro Una Brisa de Esperanza (English translation is A Breeze of Hope Center). This is one of MAP Bolivia’s projects and is a center that focuses on providing services to children (boys and girls) and adolescents that have been sexually abused. CUBE provides legal services as well as social and psychological services. 

My job at CUBE thus far is checking the database, making sure that all of the cases from 2004 (when CUBE began) until now are in the system. This requires going through each individual case, typing the name into the computer. To be honest, the job can be a little mind numbing. But, something occurred to me as I typed name after name after name- each of these children has been sexually abused in some way, shape, or form. Hundreds upon hundreds of cases have passed through CUBE in the past 7 years. As I typed the names I started praying for each of these children.

Something has struck me as I have begun working at CUBE… Oftentimes, our culture treats sexual violence as a taboo topic. It makes us uncomfortable so we just don’t talk about it. This surely is the wrong approach. 

This difficult, but important topic hit even closer to home recently. I found out that a friend of mine was brutally assaulted and raped in her home in the U.S. by a complete stranger. The news left me feeling all sorts of emotions- anger, fear, confusion. Why did this happen? Why did this happen to her?

 

I don’t have the answers and granted what happened to my friend is not the same as a child being sexually abused by a family member, BUT it is related.  Sexual violence is sexual violence. These things are real and are happening in this messed up, broken world. And although I am still figuring out how to respond something I am sure of is turning a blind eye is NOT the right response. CUBE has a saying- “¡¡¡No Calles, Rompe El Silencio!!!”- Don’t Be Quiet, Break the Silence!!! Although remaining silent is the easiest thing to do we must speak out. We must break the silence. 

As I continue working at CUBE I will write more about their work and about what you can to “break the silence”. For now, please join with me in praying for my friend, for all the children and adolescents of CUBE, and the thousands of others in the world who have been victims of sexual violence.  

May the Lord bring physical, mental, and emotional healing to them all. Amen.

The Down Low: What We're Doing in Bolivia

Everyone from parents to neighbors to my dental hygienist (truth!) has been asking, "So, what exactly are you doing in Bolivia?". A week and a half ago Daniel & I got the opportunity to share at our church- West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship about just that. Sharing our story in person was an uplifting (and slightly nerve wracking) experience. For all of you that weren't there this post is an attempt at summarizing what we shared...

The Basics
We got married on August 20th- Adventure #1.
We leave for Bolivia on October 9th- Adventure #2. :)
We hope to stay until the end of May (more on that later). 
We will be living and working in a small rural town outside of Cochabamba, Bolivia called Chilimarca.
We will be working as unpaid volunteers with MAP International.

MAP International in Bolivia
To understand what we are doing n Bolivia you should get to know the organization we're working with. As we learn more about them we will be sure to pass the info on to you as well.

MAP stands for Medical Assistance Program and that is where MAP's roots lie. MAP began as a Christian NGO focusing on the health needs of those in poverty. Since its beginning (almost 20 years ago) MAP has progressed into a holistic development organization that meets many needs of the community.

Three programs we want to highlight are:

• Health Clinic- Provides primary health care to the community of Chilimarca, treats diseases and illnesses.
• School- An elementary school providing formal education in Chilimarca. This is the only school in the community.
• Centro Una Brisa de Esperanza (CUBE)- Spanish for "A Breeze of Hope Center". A center entirely devoted to fighting child sexual abuse in Bolivia. CUBE provides many services including free psychological, medical, and legal support to children and adolescents that have been abused. Also, CUBE advocates for public policy and judicial system reforms.

Hopefully, that gives you a glimpse of MAP's work. Once we get there we will definitely share more.

The Why
Most people know that I (Rachel) am getting my MA in International Development from Eastern University. The last portion of the program requires me to take two classes online and to complete a three month field practicum. Therefore, one of the main purposes of this trip is for me to finish my degree.

But, for Daniel & I, this trip is much more than an academic requirement. We have desired to do development work for a long time and see this as the beginning of our career as development workers. We see ourselves spending much of our lives doing this type of work. I have been itching to get back to "the field" since I did my SALT term in Guatemala (2008-2009) and I am so excited to be going back. This time I will be with my life partner and very best friend. :)

The What
Ok so finally, WHAT ARE WE DOING in Bolivia? We have one main project with MAP and that is to assist them with an evaluation. The first part of it will include reading a bunch of written documents about MAP's work. Things like their mission, purpose, guiding principles, etc. Then, Daniel & I will write a summary document.

The next step of the evaluation will entail visiting MAP's programs and analyzing their fieldwork. Basically, we will be comparing the written documents with how their programs are conducted.

Other than this project (which I think will take a lot of time and energy) we will be working at the school & CUBE. We will help document MAP's programs for donors and assist with project proposals and grants. I will be taking my classes online. Daniel will be attending language classes and I will be working on improving my Spanish. It seems like we will be pretty busy!

I will write another post soon with details about how you can be praying for us!

Abrazos,
Rachel