Last Tuesday, we went down there to talk to the parents about moving the two sponsored girls to Poppy's House. So the six of us walked to the very last house in Belen (if you'll remember, Belen is the poorest area in Iquitos). The only thing past their house was the river and the jungle. For the next hour, we sat with the parents, telling them about the life and future their daughters will have being at Poppy's House and in school, not the mention the fact that they will have three meals a day, clothes, and a safe place to sleep at night with a legitimate bed. So finally, the parents reluctantly agreed to send their two girls the next day. So we told them Paul and Leo would come back the next morning at nine to pick up the girls, so the parents can't send them up to the streets to beg.
The next morning, we got to the office and the girls' father was sitting outside the office. Inside, the oldest, Valeria, was being bathed and given new clothes. However, Paul was incredibly upset, so when we asked what was wrong, he filled us in on the events of the morning. When they got to the family's home, the parents had changed their minds. They didn't want them to go because then they wouldn't have someone to cook, clean, and work for money. Plus the mom said she would be too sad without them. Paul's response of course was why can't you go and work for money? Why can't your husband? Why can't your pregnant 16-year old daughter cook and clean? These girls are nine and twelve years old, they should be in school. Not on the streets looking through trash for food for their parents. The girls wanted to go, you could tell by their faces but they kept looking to their mom for her final approval. The oldest was ready to walk out the door and come to Poppy's House. However, the youngest wouldn't leave without her mom agreeing.
Finally, Paul convinced the dad to come with the oldest, Valeria, to the office and then out to Poppy's House. Once they were out there, they got her settled, her dad patted her on the shoulder, said goodbye, and walked away. Valeria played with the kids all day long, she colored with us, ate two full meals, and played some more. Later that night, as I was getting out the shower, I received a call from Paul informing me that our nurse, Camilla, saw the dad, mom and baby brother on a motorkar, heading our way. Paul wasn't sure if they were coming to bring their daughter back or if they were just coming to calm the mom's nerves, but either way, Paul didn't want Valeria to see her parents before we found out why they were here.
Things quickly changed when I walked out of my room and saw Valeria walking towards me with her clothes in a bag, ready to leave. For about a second I froze and panicked. What was I supposed to do? Pick her up, carry her to her room and lock it so she couldn't leave? (That's what I wanted to do!) Just let her go? Then suddenly it hit me, I needed to distract her. I hadn't seen her parents yet, so I hoped maybe she hasn't talked to them yet, just saw them and figured she was going home. So we told Valeria we needed time to talk to her parents, got some markers and paper, and took all the kids to the sala (living room) to color. Then, we went to start what would be a long and bizarre conversation.
When Susana asked the parents what they were doing here, of course they were there to bring Valeria back. (Which by the way, I am so thankful Susan was there because if she hadn't of been, those parents would have taken Valeria and we never would have known). Anyways, Susan asked the parents why they were bringing her back, when they'd agreed earlier that day for her to come. Well, the parents (both of them, including the dad who'd been here earlier to say goodbye) launched into this big story about how she didn't want to go, but Paul and Leo grabbed her arm and pulled her away. They just kept saying over and over that they grabbed her arm and pulled her away. This went on for twenty to thirty minutes, with us continuing to say this wasn't true, the dad came here, saw the rooms, said goodbye, and there was absolutely no force involved. Finally, the parents gave up and admitted that this was a lie.
The next reason they came up with for why they were bringing them back was because Paul bought their child and that wasn't right. (Side note: Earlier that day, the mom told Paul she would need money if Valeria was leaving because her husband was going to the jungle and she would need money for the transition period, so Paul gave her the money). Anyways, they didn't want to be the type of people that sold their children. Once again, we tried to explain that Valeria needed to be here for her future. She wasn't in school because it's the law and because that's where kids should be. The dad responded immediately saying that they are in school. They go almost everyday, they just hadn't been the last two days because they needed the money. Well that wasn't true because Paul had seen Valeria digging in the trash for food for her parents. Well her dad claimed that wasn't normal, that was her punishment. What happened to grounding your child?
After Paul explained that Peruvian law says children must be in school he told the parents they were breaking the law, and that has serious consequences. The dad immediately disagreed. He kept saying over and over, no that's now the law, there's no law here about education, you are all wrong. He then continued to say kids are supposed to go out and work and support their parents. They are supposed to bring food and money to the house for the parents. Paul and the dad went back and forth for awhile about why Valeria and Natalie needed to be here instead of working on the streets to support their parents at nine and twelve years old. And the parents needed to be the ones working and cooking instead of laying around all day.
After going over the benefits of Valeria and Natalie being here, Paul asked the dad how he thought the girls being here benefitted Paul. The dad's response to that was that he believed we were taking pictures of his daughters and sending the to other countries to sell for money. That's what he'd heard and believed. To that, Paul finally said enough. He made one last argument about how they have eight kids they can't support, why not let us support two of them. The dad's last response consisted of: "I'm just here to take my daughter back because her mom needs her to support us." So with that, they left, leaving all of us disappointed. However, now the fight begins for all the kids. I hope I can share a happier ending next time!
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