A post from Katie Swab
Matt and I have been married for nearly two years now, and in that time we have been asked the inevitable question numerous times: “When are you going to start a family?” However, I think the person that has asked us the most, even though we have only seen her twice, is Tais. Tais is a thirteen year old girl that benefits from the Compassion Project that Christopher blogged about in the previous post. When we met her last year, she was absolutely fascinated by the fact that Matt and I, as well as David and Becca Woods, were married. Marriage is a concept that is foreign to almost all of the kids at Compassion. Tais would point to each half of the couple then put her index fingers together symbolizing a kiss. This motion brought us joy in that she recognized the relationship between us, yet sadness as we recognized that the only expression she could think to share for a relationship was a physical one, offering us a window into her life.
This year, as soon as she saw me, she gave me a big hug and immediately pointed to Matt and I then made the gesture of rocking a baby in her arms; her way of asking if we had a baby yet, as she had done so many times last July. As we told her “no”, a look of disappointment crossed her face. We continued to bond, though, through many hugs and conversations with hand motions and broken Portuguese (on my part). We had a picture taken of the two of us, and she promptly asked if I could send her a copy of the picture through the director of Compassion, Ivy. Of course, I told her that I would; I was just blessed and overjoyed that she had asked. When we had a break in the program I asked Ivy for Tais’ story. Ivy informed me that Tais’ mother is deeply engrossed in the business of black magic, or spiritism, in Brazil. People will pay her for services similar to voodoo. Her four siblings, ages 14, 10, 9, and 6, are also involved in the Compassion Project. Tais’ father, although he is in the picture, which is rare in this river community, is very violent, which has contributed to the children having bad tempers and being very aggressive. In fact, we learned from Ivy that as soon as the youngest sister (6) came in today, she was complaining of a hurt leg; their father had kicked her because he didn’t like the outfit she chose to wear that day. Although I knew that Tais’ story was probably pretty dire, I didn’t imagine, or perhaps I just didn’t let myself imagine, that it would be quite so unsettling and seemingly hopeless. Tais is such a lively young girl and a born leader whose enthusiasm and attitude mirrors that of someone who spends their weekends like a normal thirteen year old, shopping at the mall and talking about boys. Instead, she witnesses acts of black magic and domestic violence towards defenseless children. Knowing her true circumstances brought me profound sadness past the general heaertache we feel for these children, just as seeing the recognition of me in her eyes had brought me pure joy. Even though she brought me the saddest moments of this trip, I can only hope to see her again, as she also brought me the most joyful moments.
