Friday the 8th of March is International Women's Day, in honour of which I am going to tell you about Machi, who works with us at Mosoj Yan. She is in her early 30's and has 2 children - a 10 year old boy and a 9 year old girl.
Machi spent her childhood and adolescence on the street - she is from Oruro originally (Southwest of us here in Cochabamba). She came from a household where her father abused her mother, so she ran away to live on the streets, and later ran away from Oruro's streets to Cochabamba's streets. She quickly got into sniffing glue and smoking marijuana, it became her favourite thing in life. Her and her street 'family' started robbing people, and fighting with each other and other groups on the street. In order to enter a street gang you had to have self-inflicted cuts on your hands, stomach, feet etc. The one with the most became the leader - this was Machi. She got a lot of respect from the other kids as the gang leader, and everyone on the streets knew her well. Her and her gang would spend weeks down by the river smoking crack and taking other drugs - she referred to this as a very sad time in her life.
She moved from various hostels to orphanages, to various centres which are dedicated to helping street children. None of these other centres had the same philosophy as Mosoj Yan, which is to motivate these children to change their lives - they maybe just provided shelter and food, and some advice but nothing that was strong or effective enough to really change them. When Machi found Mosoj Yan it changed her life due to its focus on motivating children and helping them with self esteem and psychological issues. Through finding Mosoj Yan and starting a relationship with God and learning about the Bible, she changed her life, and she gives thanks to Mosoj Yan which is now the only family and only life she could ever want.
There is a lot of discrimination of course from society towards street kids - they are dirty, they rob people, they have nowhere to go, nowhere to call home, they are drug addicts, and often have escaped abusive families and start to abuse others, or be involved in prostitution. But they all have a story, and they have all essentially had part of their life and future and hopes and optimism destroyed thanks to abusive families, the economic situation in Bolivia, total lack of self-worth and no sense of being loved. Machi is an amazing and lovely woman, and is totally dedicated to Mosoj Yan, having started working for them 5 years ago. She is so warm and kind and generous - you don't need to fully understand someone's language to see these qualities. I am proud to have the chance to work with her, and the other women at our centre, and to know first hand of the good that Mosoj Yan has achieved in people's lives.
This is Machi in the kitchen at work, making 60 bread rolls for the kids - soon she will start teaching them about growing food and cooking it themselves - we have a small vegetable garden at work for this:
You can watch her testimony here, in Spanish - you may not understand the words, but you will get the sentiment.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1920216405920&set=vb.255508761139996&type=2&theater
Thanks for reading and happy International Women's Day everyone x
Machi spent her childhood and adolescence on the street - she is from Oruro originally (Southwest of us here in Cochabamba). She came from a household where her father abused her mother, so she ran away to live on the streets, and later ran away from Oruro's streets to Cochabamba's streets. She quickly got into sniffing glue and smoking marijuana, it became her favourite thing in life. Her and her street 'family' started robbing people, and fighting with each other and other groups on the street. In order to enter a street gang you had to have self-inflicted cuts on your hands, stomach, feet etc. The one with the most became the leader - this was Machi. She got a lot of respect from the other kids as the gang leader, and everyone on the streets knew her well. Her and her gang would spend weeks down by the river smoking crack and taking other drugs - she referred to this as a very sad time in her life.
She moved from various hostels to orphanages, to various centres which are dedicated to helping street children. None of these other centres had the same philosophy as Mosoj Yan, which is to motivate these children to change their lives - they maybe just provided shelter and food, and some advice but nothing that was strong or effective enough to really change them. When Machi found Mosoj Yan it changed her life due to its focus on motivating children and helping them with self esteem and psychological issues. Through finding Mosoj Yan and starting a relationship with God and learning about the Bible, she changed her life, and she gives thanks to Mosoj Yan which is now the only family and only life she could ever want.
There is a lot of discrimination of course from society towards street kids - they are dirty, they rob people, they have nowhere to go, nowhere to call home, they are drug addicts, and often have escaped abusive families and start to abuse others, or be involved in prostitution. But they all have a story, and they have all essentially had part of their life and future and hopes and optimism destroyed thanks to abusive families, the economic situation in Bolivia, total lack of self-worth and no sense of being loved. Machi is an amazing and lovely woman, and is totally dedicated to Mosoj Yan, having started working for them 5 years ago. She is so warm and kind and generous - you don't need to fully understand someone's language to see these qualities. I am proud to have the chance to work with her, and the other women at our centre, and to know first hand of the good that Mosoj Yan has achieved in people's lives.
This is Machi in the kitchen at work, making 60 bread rolls for the kids - soon she will start teaching them about growing food and cooking it themselves - we have a small vegetable garden at work for this:
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| Machi cooking bread |
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1920216405920&set=vb.255508761139996&type=2&theater
Thanks for reading and happy International Women's Day everyone x
Amazing post. You write Machi's story in such a compelling fashion that it's even more of a treasure to read.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're still having an incredible experience, looking forward to hearing more
Every year, March 8th is observed as International Women’s Day across the globe to honor and celebrate women in all their glory. So, check out this article to honor women’s accomplishments and express your gratitude for their presence in your life with some Women's day fun activities ideas in office.
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