One call saved a child.
June 26, 2020
Are you weary of headlines this month? We sure are. Sometimes as headlines get worse, the instinct to ignore them or find a way to numb ourselves to their reality increases too. Yet headlines always carry some grain of suffering for real people. Real people. Real families. Real children. Yet, sometimes it seems the worse the headline is, the more distant the pain becomes.
At Global Child Advocates, we are determined to lean in where others might pull back. While we have wrestled with the new realities COVID-19 presents, we are drawing nearer to the communities and families we serve. We are resolved that our families will not face these challenges alone.
So this month as the world continues to grapple with COVID-19 and its known and unknown effects, we’ve seen firsthand the trickle down of this crisis in the very communities and families we serve. The story we need to tell you might seem like one out of a movie, yet its wrestle is one we must understand if we’re to see how to truly support kids, families and communities.
As with many communities around the world, Mae Sot is struggling to make sense of the new economy that COVID has produced. Many of the families in our region rely upon day-work for their livelihood. As the economy ground to a halt, so did their income. Additionally, like many who exist below the poverty line, they typically have little to no savings or reserves set aside for such a scenario.
This brought one woman to a crippling decision. Before we share the details, and before you rush to a shock of horror, take a moment to imagine what this must feel like.
A young mother found herself pregnant again by a man who wanted nothing to do with her older children because they were not his. So with very few choices or food to feed her children, she considered selling her baby, as the only way she could get back home to Burma with her other children.
It’s awful. Most of us reading this story on a phone, tablet, or computer can never imagine considering such a choice. We also would never have opportunity to contemplate this, nor the means to accomplish it. It’s unthinkable. There’s no way that’s what this young woman dreamed to do with her life, nor is this the kind of mother she wants to be.
But here’s the miracle: a teacher in her community had received child protection training and understood the value of family. She knew to call GCA. Rather than judging this young woman, her community rushed to her aid.
Our team has now been able to come alongside this family, and this young woman as she keeps her family together. While her circumstances are far from ideal, her young baby’s life is now far more protected and insulated due to her courage.
At GCA, we often wonder how to know if we are making an impact, but this is one of the ways we know. When the headlines trickle down to really awful circumstances for real people, they know they can call GCA. They know they’ll find compassion and not judgment. They know they’ll receive support and not shame. There are brighter days ahead for this young family and we are so thankful to be with them for the journey.