Do you know someone with a disability? Maybe someone who’s blind… or wheelchair-bound… or someone who has Down syndrome… or maybe they have some other kind of physical or mental handicap. Now, can you imagine the world without them? Is that an uncomfortable question?
It wasn’t too long ago that the Indians who live in the Peruvian jungle (and other Amazonian countries) would be so scared, perplexed, embarrassed or ashamed to find out that their child had some kind of long-term illness or disability, they’d try to find a way to not have to deal with the situation. Their way of “not dealing” was to take their child deep into the jungle and leave them there. Abandon them. Allow the cycle of life (and death) to take its course.
Fortunately, times have changed. And in the middle of an ever-increasing acceptance and understanding of people with disabilities, there are pockets of so much goodness.
Do you remember us talking in our previous post about the school where our team tested the viability of installing a water filtration system? It was at a place called Refuge of Hope; a school in Pucallpa for children and young adults, some of whom have a disability and some of whom don’t. For the sake of brevity, I’ll refrain from telling you the story of how the school started… but I’d strongly encourage you to read a couple of paragraphs from the founders, Victor and Ana, to hear it from the horse’s mouth.
Victor is himself a polio survivor and has firsthand experience at facing life with a disability. His limp is the obvious giveaway that he’s had health struggles in years gone by… but he smiles a lot and has a huge sense of humor that’s impossible to ignore. He and his incredibly dedicated staff of 100 teach and care for approximately 500 children and young adults. All the kids and teenagers light up when they see Victor coming; he knows them all and showers them with dignity and respect.
Tom, our fearless Peruvian/American leader, took our team of 15 to the school early on in our visit… and I don’t think any of us had the slightest idea what kind of emotional rollercoaster we were about to experience. In true British fashion, I managed to hold it together for the first half of our time there… and then I crumpled into a sobbing heap on Peet’s arm!! To be honest, it was hard to tell if my tears were the result of hearing the heartwrenching stories of the kids or the heartwarming accounts of those who rescued and/or continue to pour life into them. Either way, take it from me that crying like a crazy thing isn’t conducive to seeing anything through my camera’s viewfinder!!
We were greeted by a group of smiling children, all excited to see visitors on the property. Some hid in doorways, overcome by shyness, while others ran alongside us, tugging at our hands and posing for our cameras.
We were shown into one of the many classrooms where the kids sang a song for us that they’d been practising for visiting groups… and then we heard the backstory of one or two of the kids innocently smiling up at us, and our hearts broke. Stories of abuse or abandonment are common. In those cases, the children actually live at the school, and our hearts melted at the kindness of the staff and the older kids who treat the younger ones like their siblings. We moved to another classroom for another song and heard more stories of heartbreak and awesomeness.
My main role on our team was as photographer… but something felt so distasteful to me about snapping a multitude of 2-dimensional images of these lives that were so multi-faceted that you have to meet them in order to really see them. But the kids were so happy. They were thrilled we were there and many of them were desperate to have their picture taken and see their face on the camera’s screen immediately afterwards. Apparently, I had to get over myself!!
Once our tour of the school was over, our team went into divide-and-conquer mode. The water team headed to the well to start testing; the therapists made their way to the physical therapy room to help the one physical therapist on staff (that’s right: one); others went to hang out with some of the kids; and a bunch of construction guys went off-site to work their magic elsewhere.
Tom told us that evening he’d been praying we’d each have our hearts broken that day. Well, I think we can safely say God answered that one!!
(Check out this post to see what the team goes through in order to assess who qualifies for a water purification system…)
Quick update:
It’s looking like the clean water system will indeed be installed at Refuge of Hope… yay!! That’s 600 people on a daily basis who will finally have access to clean water for the first time!! Highpoint Church is feverishly raising funds to pay for the installation of the system, currently scheduled for February 2016. If you’d like to make a donation (tax-deductible for US residents), please go here and select “Pour Me Out” in the “Fund” field. Thanks!!
See that building in the background? It’s where a company burns lumber to make charcoal. When the wind’s blowing the wrong way, the students and staff breathe in all those fumes. Ugh.
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