New Year Update
With 2 new children’s homes opening in the course of 2008 and with others developing further we were delighted that at this past Christmas there were 100 more children in our homes than were there last year. That meant that 100 more children had a Christmas dinner this year than last but more importantly 100 more children now have a loving home, an education and an opportunity and hope for the future.
One of those new homes that opened in 2008 was in a place called Ica in the Peruvian desert. This home was funded through churches and the wider community of Cupar in Fife. Here is one story about several of the boys who came to call ‘Casa Girasoles Ica’ their home…
Elber, Nilton, Edwin, Julio, Dori and Edward were sound asleep in the shack they had built for themselves out of plastic, cardboard and straw mats which they had collected from road side garbage dumps over a year before.
Unknown to them, Augusto Cavero, SU Peru House-Parent of the new Casa Girasoles Home for Abandoned Boys was out looking for ‘throw-away kids’, often found hiding in the desert on dry mountain sides outside the dusty city of Ica.
It was just past midnight when Augusto came across them, huddled together in a crevasse of a desolate area known as Cerro Partido (Split Mountain). They were frightened. They did not believe what he offered them but nothing could be worse than this, so they followed him.
They told him and ‘mama Nancy’ of the not-so-good things they had done to get just enough food to keep alive, how the thing they most valued was water and about the ‘bazooka’ they had found left behind by soldiers who had been on desert maneuvers. They kept it, as it made them feel safe. They told of ‘el accidente’, the day the weapon was accidentally fired, injuring a boy nearby. They told of their fear of being caught and of their promise to each other never to tell who had pulled the trigger.
They were happy in our Casa Girasoles Ica and enjoyed the week long visit of the friends of Cupar, Scotland October had provided the funds to make this all happen.
Then, just recently Augusto and Nancy’s worst dreams came true. The dreaded police had caught up with the boys through the office of the State Attorney (Fiscal) with whom we have to register all our boys.
Augusto went to the Police Department and said that although he could not stop them from doing what they wanted to do, he would not let them in the home if they came in uniform, as “that would be showing me, my wife, and our boys a singular lack of respect.”
It nearly broke their hearts, but Nancy and Augusto had to tell the boys of what at any moment was about to happen. They assured them that wherever they were taken, Jesus would go with them and would listen to them and that their new Mama and Papa would always welcome them back.
Julio said: “You are not to cry, Daddy. Worse things have happened to us before. You and Mama have been so good.”
Edwin, terrified, looked at the others and said, “Let’s escape.” “No” they replied, “we will all go together. Just remember we will never say who did it. We all did. Remember that.” They all shook their heads.
Within minute’s three officers, dressed in civilian clothing, walked in, apprehended the 6 boys, loaded them in a van and were gone in a cloud of dust.
Mama, Papa Augusto, and 34 boys looked through the windows in silence, each with his own thoughts, his own set of fears, and his own silence.
There may be no laws in place, but we feel we have a right to know where our boys have been taken and what has been done to them. Rumor has it that they are in Maranguita – a dreaded Lima prison, but they refuse to tell us.
It took Augusto no time to find six new abandoned boys, so at the Christmas dinner table Wednesday night all chairs were filled. How can you have 40 spaces taken and yet have 6 empty? All tummies were filled and they all smiled – and even pretended. But, that’s O.K., isn’t it?
We believe that the story of Elber, Nilton, Edwin, Julio, Dori and Edward does not end with this episode. The Casa Girasoles Programme will not forget about them and Agusto and Nancy hope and pray that they will be reunited with the boys in the future.