Live action!

During our short visit home over the holildays, my Dad introduced us to something he does not want us to miss by living on another continent: Turtle Man.  After that, the term ¨Live Action!¨has new meaning.  It seems like the start to 2012 in our office was slow, as we were getting adjusted to the new team, figuring our way around the city, and learning exactly what would be expected of us.  This year, the best term to describe  our beginning is Live Action!

After only a few days of planning out the year, our team jumped right back into where we had been last year, but not quite getting snapping turtles out of muddy ponds.  We are seeing more need than ever as we work with issues of abuse and domestic violence.  There is hardly any help for those who need it, and those who might be able to file a report with the government don´t get anywhere because the government can´t decide what to do with the cases.  All around, it is just a sad cycle that never seems to bring justice to those who need it most.  And people know they can get away with murder here.

Speaking of getting away with murder, Drew and I got called in on Sunday morning to help present some evidence to the police before a woman was let free.  Our psychologist in charge of the case spends her weekends with her family in a town just over an hour away, so with a tight time limit, Drew and I were the ones who were closest and most able to make it.  We made it to the police headquarters a little before 8 am, just in time to show some pictures of a boy with bruises all over his body, a forensic report of the same boy, and a rope used by the mother trying to strangle this 9 year old.  She apparently blew up because her son lost 5 Bolivianos (equal to about $0.75) and  tied a rope around his neck in order to choke him to death.  The boy was found, still alive, Peace and Hope was called to help with the case.  

As Drew and I were called up to the police desk to present the evidence, a group was also called up beside us.  We had no idea who they were until they indicated that one of the ladies was the mother, and around her were family and friends who were there to support her.  Somehow in spending the night in jail, the woman had convinced the police officer that she really was the victim in the situation.  The police officer bought her story and was looking for ways to get her off the hook.

The case is a bit more complicated than that, but I will spare you the other details.  Of course we want restoration for the mother and son, but the mother needs to realize that what she did was very wrong and there are consequences to our actions.  It was a somber reminder for Drew and I of how necessary it is to fight for justice.