Day 55: Survivors

I spoke to two girls at the shelter in Juarez today who told me that they left Guatemala because their dad was abusing their mom. Their mom was in the kitchen as they were telling me, so they brought me into a separate room to share the details. 

It's been two years since they left, but they didn't want her to have to relive it. 

They said that it started with small things that got worse with time. He would come home angry, say and do things he didn't mean, and then apologize in the morning. 

When he began making death threats, she packed up and left with the children. 

The family has been in Juarez for two years. They've been in and out of detention centers, trying to ask for asylum in the U.S. The oldest girl—just sixteen—told me she was violated several times on their journey and in detention. She said that the boys at school in Juarez asked her to send nudes and threatened to kill her if she didn't. They did the same to her twelve-year-old sister. 

She was stoic and unfazed as she talked to me, as if rape and domestic abuse were just an accepted part of life. 

The family connected with Annunciation House through another shelter in Mexico. Now, they live in our little house in Juarez, waiting to hear back from the U.S. immigration office regarding their case. 

They find clever ways to make the time pass. They braid each other's hair, cook rice and beans, and obsessively clean the floor. They've even started a needlepoint company, charging $35 for intricately sewn cactuses, flowers, and birds. The designs are beautiful. 

In a way, the colorful patches a testament to all of the beauty and strength they've been able to harness out of one of the ugliest situations I could ever imagine.