Fitting In

5 Replies

Instead of looking at Caty as a reject, the girls hovered over her. They helped her dress, organized her personal items, and played the beautician; they helped in any situation. I loved watching them fix her hair with little braids. After a manicure treatment, she strutted with her hands out in front of her. One time she marched into the office, foot and toes pointed out, and said, “Look, look, Mamma Carroll.” 
“Caty, they are beautiful, and so are you,” I replied. She danced out of the room with sparkles in her eyes.
 
The beginning had its hard times.
“Caty, it is time to go upstairs and get ready for bed.” Caty looked at me and back toward the floor, but didn’t try to get off the couch.
“Caty, it is time to go upstairs.” The other girls had left for their bedrooms, but Caty didn’t budge. I took her arm and nudged her toward the stairs. I felt a solid resistance. I realized stubborn as a mule would be added to the list of issues we would face. I lifted her face and looked into her eyes, but she refused to connect with mine.
“Caty, you are God’s beautiful creation. He loves you, and we love you. He brought you to our home so you would be safe and be part of this family, but being in a family requires obedience. So I’m asking you to obey and go upstairs.” I prayed for the Lord to help Caty act on what I said. I didn’t know if she understood my words, but she rose and, like an inchworm, moved up the stairs to her bedroom. Unfortunately, we would see a repeat of this behavior many times and not always with positive results.

I watched Caty settle in with our family, showing the maturity of a toddler. She needed help with many activities, including taking a shower or brushing her teeth. The girls taught her to eat with a spoon and a fork, but she preferred her fingers. 
Her deep needs kept me pondering what we could do with our limited staff and abilities. I knew the love and security she felt influenced her positively, but I wanted to see healing. Could this be the result of drugs before birth? We needed to know what damaged her brain functions and what could be done to correct or heal those areas. 
   
One day, all the girls except Caty went on a retreat to San Pedro. I thought this would be a good time for the interns and me to take her to the new mall for an outing. The stores were on the second level, and I braced myself as I looked at the escalators. Caty had never seen such machines, and her round eyes and big grin encouraged me to take the risk.
“One of you girls step in front of us so you can help if needed,” I said. I hugged Caty around the waist with one arm and grabbed her hand with the other so we could step together. I held her back to keep her from stumbling as we moved onto the escalator. She shrieked, and everyone in the area turned to see what had happened. Our girl laughed all the way up, to the delight of the observers. 
From there, we went to McDonald’s for lunch. “Caty, would you like a hamburger and french fries to eat?” Her eyes glowed, nodding as if she had just entered Heaven. I passed the food to each girl from the tray. We had barely finished praying when Caty dived in and devoured everything within a few minutes. I guessed she feared her food would disappear. We returned to the orphanage with a reluctant youngster. The afternoon wore me out, and I longed for a nap. But not Caty; she wanted more action.

Visiting teams brings excitement to Shadow. The kids look forward to times of playing games, doing crafts, listening to teachings, and developing family relationships with people who treat them special. Caty’s ears perked up when she heard that a team would be coming because she had her favorite people. Even though a year might have passed since the last time she saw a friend, Caty immediately nuzzled up to their shoulder when that person returned. She stuck like glue until departure time.
It surprised me when English popped out of Caty’s mouth. One time a team brought the girls back from an excursion. Caty jumped out of the van, did her little half-wave, and said, “Good night,” in clear English. It tickled us to see her developing in the language area and becoming bilingual.

Strange Girl

Leave a reply

CHAPTER ONE
Strange Girl

Deep in the recesses of her mind, Caty found a refuge where she hid from the world around her. It’s a mystery how long she sought an escape, but it became her secret place with walls that allowed nobody to enter. Shadow of His Wings Orphanage personnel had no idea what adventure awaited with this strange girl.

It began late one evening; the police came to the orphanage with an odd-acting child. They gave us the court order for her to stay with us, a girl with no name. About twelve years old, her eyes darted around the room like a wild trapped animal. I took her into my arms as she quivered and whimpered. After minutes of softly spoken words, I could feel her heartbeat slowing down, but she clung harder to my arm.

With my prodding and the house mother’s gentle pulling, she went upstairs for the routine clean-up. During this time for new girls, there would be notes taken of any scars, wounds, or physical signs that would alert us to her past situation. We needed documentation for the court of possible abuses a child might have endured before coming to Shadow of His Wings. Colonies of lice in the hair required extermination with designated shampoo followed by a proper body scrubbing.

After the girl had gone upstairs with the house mother, the children gathered around me. “What’s her name?” Lorena asked. “Why is she acting weird?” asked Josselin. “Is she on drugs?”

My head buzzed with similar questions. Where did this child come from, and what was her story? How could we minister to what she needed? What if we can’t take care of her?

“Kids, we don’t have any information about her and no name. Maybe she will tell us when she feels safe. Meanwhile, show her love and encouragement; we are here to help her. She shouldn’t be alone, so I’m asking you to take turns staying with her.”

The next day, the court secretary said the police record showed this child suffered sexual and physical abuse. They received a call from a shady hotel asking for the removal of a girl. They found her in a room, alone in women’s black lingerie, crouching on the floor. Someone dressed her, and the police brought her to Shadow.

Without any identification or contact information, her lack of communication left us clueless about this child. The girls asked her what her name was, but the response of sounds didn’t make sense. Finally, after listening to what she did say, the girls decided she should be called Caty.

We thought intellectual disability described her state of mind because she would say a few words that made sense while chattering nonsense. Caty imitated the girls by repeating one or two words. When I looked at her, I couldn’t see the characteristics of Down Syndrome, so I didn’t think this to be her problem. However, we did know this child had suffered much, and we needed to find out how we could help her mentally, physically, and spiritually.

The Lord said He would give us wisdom when we needed it. “Dear Lord, please open the floodgates of knowledge so we can help this damaged child.”

Someone tossed this life into the trash, but Caty deserved justice, security, and love. The path I saw ahead of us went into unknown territory while the learning curve rose sharply. Where to begin became the number one question in our minds.

Caty’s Refuge

1 Reply

With Caty in my arms that first night, my heart resonated with a deep desire to help this lost child. I wanted her to find her rightful place in life without the chains of the past holding her back. At that time, I didn’t know what or to what extent had afflicted Caty, but I knew that the enemy held her captive. The adults and children at the project felt the same way about her. So, as a team, we reached out to Caty in love and compassion, encouraging her to leave her secret place and enter the real world. However, we had no idea what investment would be required from each of us to see ground gained.
As you read Caty’s story, you will gain perspective into her life. Still, her story will also open an understanding of the lives of other children walking a similar path. Perhaps her story will encourage you to make a difference in such a child’s life. You can work with God, the Miracle Grower, by planting seeds in hearts and breaking the chains off the captives. May God open your eyes to the changes you can affect when you let His love flow through you to children who have become victims of a sinful world.
I will post chapters of Caty’s story each week.
Some of the names in this booklet have been changed to protect the person’s privacy.

Home In Our Hearts

6 Replies

New Home 2005

I walked into the large bedroom to wake the girls for church. Pretending to be asleep, giggles and slight movement of the blankets gave them away.

“Good Morning chicas.”

That opened the door to a chorus of Mama Carroll this and that. Astrid’s resounding voice described the frogs that sang all night. The excitement of being in their temporary home and a new town vibrated in all the bedrooms.

Questions entwined in my thinking. Would we be accepted into this Monjas community? Would the girls be subject to cruel remarks about being orphans or troublemakers? We would soon find out as we prepared for church on our first full day.

The other co-founder of James Project of Latin America moved to Monjas a year before we moved the children from San Cristobal. The building of a wall around the property needed to be complete before construction on the first duplex could begin. Joanne wanted to prepare the way for the Home as she met with individuals and shared the vision and goals of JPLA. She met some resistance.

“We don’t want problem kids moving into our area.”

“This will encourage gang activity.”

“There will be a negative influence on our children.”

It hurt to hear the thoughts of people who had never met the children. Our girls worked at being servants of the Lord. We determined to use opportunities for the citizens to view our kids in positive ways. Shadow’s girls reached out to others as they received ministery.

At Home 2018

Now, thirteen years later, I watched hundreds of people gathered in Central Park for supper. The thoughts from the past replayed in my mind as I viewed the scene below me. A team from the States sponsored a free community supper inviting all of Monjas. The group bought the food, paid to have it cooked, and served it. There were 15 local churchmen in orange shirts ready with Bibles and words of prayer for anyone with special needs. I saw community effort and received verbal thank-yous for the involvement of the Project in the community.

I perused the courtyard as Shadow girls helped organize the line, served food, carried full plates and drinks for moms with babies and the elderly. My heart burst.

James Project of Latin America became an essential part of the community in many ways. No longer misunderstood strangers, but members of Monjas allowed us to call it home in our hearts.