Tonight we highlight the lives of two girls. Yuliana and
Geraldin. The girls were interviewed by Missy the executive director of CDA with the knowledge that this would be posted on the blog. Yuliana picture is in a previous post "We're on Line" and I'll have to get Geraldin's tomorrow. We forgot the camera with her picture on it at the home. We'll update the photo's tomorrow.
p.s. Every one is doing well. The building is going good. There's lots to do with two buildings on the go. Our skills our being pushed in having to do things we normally don't do.
Thank you for the comments and your prayers.
Here's the stories,
Yuliana Karlibeth Garnica
Age: 7 Years Old
Grade: Second Grade
Yuliana, as described by her teacher is a creative little girl who is a fast learner. She is lively, happy and smart.
Back in 2005, she entered the Children’s Home. Before this she lived in extreme conditions of poverty, in an old run down house in the down town area of Bogotá. However, the main reason why Yuliana had to come to the Home, was because both her mother and grandmother are Lesbians. Yuliana´s mother is also a drug addict and therefore, since an early age the children (Yuliana, her two sisters and one little brother) have been under the care of their grandmother. Even though Yuliana´s Mom lives with another woman, she has already had 4 children with different men.
When Yuliana arrived at the home, she did not admit she was a girl. She wanted to dress as a boy and behave as one. The process has been hard as the Mother and Grandmother don’t want to change their behavior, but Yuliana has come along a great deal and now has changed her behavior, accepting wearing a skirt and becoming a sweet, active little girl! What she enjoys best at the Children’s Home is the fact that she learns lots of things every day. Her favorite subject is Natural Science, becoming one of the best in this subject among her peers. One of her favorite places at the home is the pet farm. She helps care for the animals and teaches the smaller children about them. When she grows up she wants to be a police woman, so she has authority to make people do the right things. She clarifies that she will not be a bad police woman, but a kind one!
The Children’s Home staff is working strongly with the family, meeting with them every week, sharing the good news of the gospel with them as well as contributing to the improvement of the families dynamics.
Yuliana enjoys having the work team from Canada at the site, because what they are doing reminsd her of her grandma, who paints houses for a living. She says that sadly because of an accident she suffered several years ago, her grandma has not been able to work as much anymore and feels much pain, when she does. This of course affects the conditions in which the rest of the family lives, for they do not have enough income and Yuliana worries about that.
She says… I like having the team from Canada here, because they are very nice to us, they are kind and really cool. Her message to the team is …I love you very much and thank you for coming to make of our home an even nicer place!!!
Yeimy Geraldin Ramírez Rodríguez
Age: 13 years
Grade: Seventh.
Yeimy Geraldin Ramírez Rodríguez, is now 13 years old. She was enrolled at the Children´s Home on April 17, 2001
Her situation at the admission was quite hard, since her mother is an unstable and immature person, with criminal records for theft and prostitution. Mercedes (Geraldin’s mother) used to sell Geraldin and her two sisters for sexual exploitation, giving them the idea that this was the only way of getting on in life without dying from hunger. When she joined the school she was a shy, introverted, and not very sociable girl; she reflected in her behavior and in her face the anguish of a difficult life full of suffering and pain.
Her life is now full of light and hope; she expresses in her eyes the happiness of living and the yearning to continue on with by love of God at work in her life…
My name is Yeimy Geraldin Ramírez Rodríguez, but I like my friends to call me “Geral”. I was born on September 8, 1993, in Bogotá; I am now 13 years old. I have two smaller sisters, Natalia and Tatiana. My mom’s name is Mercedes Ramírez; they are my loved family.
My mom is the one who looked after us, because we never met my dad. Before living at the Children´s Home, we used to live in «La Calle del Cartucho», this is a very dangerous neighborhood—for the terrible things happening every day. There we lived with my grandmother, her husband, my uncles, and my cousins. There were many of us living in just one small room; for that reason, many frequent situations of fights showed up. My cousins were very rude and they treated us very bad; the situation was unbearable.
To subsist, my mom would sell drugs and she used to sell her body to men. But money wasn’t enough, so she made us do the same prostitution work with elder men who paid her COL $2.000 for each one of us.
A lot of time passed this way, until my mom began to receive help on behalf of God through kind and generous people that guided her to change her lifestyle. She realized the horrible mistake she was making and wanted to remedy it; so, she requested CDA for us to be admitted in the Children’s Home, in order to improve our situation.
All this caused a great pain and a lot of suffering to me, but now I am together with my sister Natalia in a place where they give us protection, love and help, because they want the best thing for us and they demonstrate it to us every day with their self-giving and dedication. They have also offered my mother a lot of help; now she is a loving person and she wants the best of things for us. She makes an effort to keep on going and get on in life.
I give thanks to God because he has brought me to this place; here, they have always really loved me; they worry a lot about me. I don't lack anything and the hand of God is upon me, always. The Children’s Home is the is the most beautiful place I have ever known and its people, training and care provided to us, are the most wonderful in the world. I have learned many things at school and every day I improve even more since I am very intelligent; I am also obedient and try to be good. My classmates love me a lot and they always look for me, asking for help in different things, so I help them and give them good advice.
To the team that is visiting us from Canada, I would say thank you to them and to all those who contributed in one way or another to making it possible for the team to come to Colombia. We enjoy having them here. It is much fun!! The crafts and gifts for the home have made us feel important, as they show their interest in our lives and in improving the home. I pray God will bless and prosper each one of those who are visiting us and sewing in our lives!
Geraldin Ramírez.
