On Tuesday, March 7th, hundreds of vulnerable children living at a home for abused teens in Guatemala staged a riot in an attempt to call attention to their brutal living conditions.
With close to 800 children under 18 living in the state-run orphanage built for 400, conditions are unthinkable.
Virgin of Assumption Safe Home is an orphanage that takes in girls and boys under 18 with no other housing options due to interfamilial abuse, domestic violence, or trafficking. Other children are checked in by family due to behavioral problems or substance abuse. Juveniles with criminal records, often gang members, also live in the home.
The country has been plagued with gang violence such as the Malva Salvatrucha, known to prey on children. It is also one of the poorest in Central America, with 60% of the population living beneath the poverty line and an estimated 375,000 orphaned youth.
An inspection of the home in 2016 concluded “deplorable” living situations and described children living without shoes, food, clothes, beds, or proper access to hygiene, resulting in skin infections.
Alicia López checked her 12-year-old son into the orphanage for a drug addiction. He later told her that he was raped by other male residents.
Andrea Palomo’s 15-year-old son reported that the older gang members tattooed the younger children forcibly.
That Tuesday night, the children decided to take a stance and riot against their living conditions. 102 children escaped through the gates, but were soon detained and brought to their rooms. Some young girls had taken refuge on the roof, fearful of being hurt by other male residents. It was there that they began to see smoke and fire erupting from the home. Questions still remain on who and why the fire was ignited, and if the girls were locked inside the rooms.
Tragedy ensued that Wednesday, March 8th, as the flames raged uncontrollably. With nowhere to go, 39 girls aged 13-16 have perished in the fire, many more left severely burned and the number of deaths still rising.
To call something this horrific a tragedy still does not capture the devastation.
There is very little to find comfort in, besides knowing that all of these sweet girls have found peace with God and will no longer have to suffer.
If anything can be taken from this, it is the grave importance of privately run orphanages in countries like Guatemala. State run orphanages like Virgin of Assumption Safe Home offer dismal accommodations and a quality of life most of us can’t even imagine.
But there does a exist a different kind of orphanage. One that cares for each child individually, provides education, friendship, food, and a bed to call their own. A home that feels like a home, in the most crucial and devastating times in these children’s lives.
One of these homes is called Esperanza y Futuro (Hope and Future.) It first was a baby home, taking in infants found in unimaginable conditions, often rescued from trash cans, septic tanks, street corners, or abandoned buildings.
After years of caring for these newborns, it's founder noticed a pattern of sibling groups coming from the same teenage mothers. From the desire to break the cycle, Esperanza y Futuro was born in 2013 to take in abused and abandoned girls and teach them how to take care of their babies as well as skills to enter into a successful adulthood off the streets.
It is situated 10 minutes from the beautiful cobbled streets of Antigua. The kids do chores, learn to cook, jump on the trampoline, sing songs, practice soccer in the front yard, and build lasting friendships. Most importantly, the home is where these children find healing.
I have witnessed the joy in these children as they form attachments and find peace with their pasts and hope for their futures. This is what they deserve. This is what every single child of the 375,000 deserves.
Of course, building these homes does not come without a fight. There are regulations with the state that are difficult to accommodate. There are costs to providing food, shelter, and education to so many children. It is an important and necessary resource, one that state run orphanages struggle and fail to provide. Esperanza y Futuro is a place that, given the adequate resources, thrives in providing for these children.
I have witnessed firsthand the life changing transformation that happens when a child so used to having to fight for their own survival finally finds a place where they are taken care of and feel safe. It is homes built from grace and unconditional love that instill grace and unconditional love in it’s children.
At Esperanza y Futuro, these children are not residents, they are family. Every child deserves a family-but when that is not possible, the next best thing is an orphanage that provides the same love.
I can’t help but wonder what would have happened to the 39 girls who passed away if they had been placed in a privately owned orphanage instead of the state’s. If that little boy wouldn’t have been abused. If the young children wouldn’t have been tattooed. If the girls on the roof wouldn’t have been filled with such terror.
In an ideal world, orphanages wouldn’t be necessary. But in a time where that just isn’t possible, orphanages are there to fill the need of a safe place for our children. They should be safe. They should be a refuge from abuse, not where they encounter it. They should be a place of healing, not trauma.
They should all be full of arms ready to welcome them home. Listen to what a supporting nonprofit, Called For His Purpose, has to say about Esperanza y Futuro doing just that:
They have a website you can visit here:
http://calledforhispurpose.org/
as always, read, learn, and make a difference.
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want to read more? visit me on Instagram @baeleyhathaway
Sources:
Elmundo.es
Globalcitizen.org
abcnews.com
theguardian.com
