This morning I arrived at the Centro de Salud to give a charla about mother and infant mortality. I was dreading it – it would be hard to get the simplest things through to people here if they all spoke English. Sometimes I’m just a moron trying to speak Spanish in a motivational way. As I arrived I saw Lillian was there. Lillian is a community health volunteer; she’s 17 and has a 2nd grade education. I just learned this fact which surprised me because talking to her you’d think she had gone to high school at least. Community health volunteers are residents of the aldeas (rural villages) who are especially motivated and responsible individuals and Lillian definitely fits the bill. She solely manages the baby weighings each and every month in her community. (This is usually a job of 3 and always a struggle to get it done). I hadn’t seen her since I went to her community in September. I hadn’t returned since because it is so far, the one time I went she met me the last third of the way with a horse since it’s too remote for cars to pass.
I asked her how her Christmas went, “well my mom died last month so it didn’t go well for me” she said. I remembered meeting her mom, a vibrant, smiley woman like her daughter. I remember she had quite a few kids around; large brown eyes, dirty faces, shy and in awe as they petted my hairy arms and touched my blond hair – normal response for aldea kids gawking at my gringa qualities. Now with her mother dead and her father currently in the US (illegally), Lillian is the head if the household.
We stayed chatting with one of the nurses about the latest “barbaridad” - a 12 year old girl had been “robbed” or taken from her parents and married by a man in the community. Robbed is the expression used here and is pretty adequate, it often happens in the middle of the night. I had seen the man the day before, he was at least 30 and apparently the girl is really tiny, undeveloped, and had never even had boyfriends. Pretty gross, but it’s common for aldea girls to marry at 14 or 15. The real scary part is that marriage here equals pregnancy, which is so dangerous at such an early age. The nurse proceeded to ask Lillian about the hickeys on her neck and face. Lillian grinned at me embarrassingly, flashing her star-shaped gold-capped two front teeth. I remember when I first met Lillian she had told me that she felt no need to get married so early, she has her whole rest of her life to do so. But now with no parental figure in the house I can see the aldea men taking advantage of the situation and perhaps Lillian’s newfound vulnerability that may result from so many responsibilities to tend to. It wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen but the husband may make her stay in the house, give up her role as a health volunteer, and start popping out kids of her own.
Fastforward to conversation 3 weeks later.....Señora de la montana: ¨La monitora de Cangual se fue. Se la llevo un muchacho¨.´... So Lillians gone, some guy took her away.... Sigh.
I asked her how her Christmas went, “well my mom died last month so it didn’t go well for me” she said. I remembered meeting her mom, a vibrant, smiley woman like her daughter. I remember she had quite a few kids around; large brown eyes, dirty faces, shy and in awe as they petted my hairy arms and touched my blond hair – normal response for aldea kids gawking at my gringa qualities. Now with her mother dead and her father currently in the US (illegally), Lillian is the head if the household.
We stayed chatting with one of the nurses about the latest “barbaridad” - a 12 year old girl had been “robbed” or taken from her parents and married by a man in the community. Robbed is the expression used here and is pretty adequate, it often happens in the middle of the night. I had seen the man the day before, he was at least 30 and apparently the girl is really tiny, undeveloped, and had never even had boyfriends. Pretty gross, but it’s common for aldea girls to marry at 14 or 15. The real scary part is that marriage here equals pregnancy, which is so dangerous at such an early age. The nurse proceeded to ask Lillian about the hickeys on her neck and face. Lillian grinned at me embarrassingly, flashing her star-shaped gold-capped two front teeth. I remember when I first met Lillian she had told me that she felt no need to get married so early, she has her whole rest of her life to do so. But now with no parental figure in the house I can see the aldea men taking advantage of the situation and perhaps Lillian’s newfound vulnerability that may result from so many responsibilities to tend to. It wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen but the husband may make her stay in the house, give up her role as a health volunteer, and start popping out kids of her own.
Fastforward to conversation 3 weeks later.....Señora de la montana: ¨La monitora de Cangual se fue. Se la llevo un muchacho¨.´... So Lillians gone, some guy took her away.... Sigh.
1 comment:
What an amazing and heartbreaking story. Please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you as you work to improve the lot of women and children in such a society.
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