From the moment that I
arrived at the office last Tuesday morning, I felt welcomed into the CEDEMUNEP
family. I was greeted by my two new
co-workers with warm hugs and kisses, and I took my place by their sides,
working hip-to-hip in our tiny apartment-office in Lima. Over the last two weeks, we have learned to
communicate across the language barrier and work together effectively. As it is my first time working
internationally, and their first time hosting an international volunteer, it is
a learning experience and an exercise in patience for all of us.
When I first arrived last Tuesday, I sat down with my
co-workers for tea and conversation about their current projects. As a civil society organization that is
highly responsive to the needs of the community, CEDEMUNEP is engaged in many
diverse activities, ranging from a clothing drive for a town devastated by an
earthquake, to summer education programs for youth in Lima. They are also currently providing legal and
psychological support to a young woman who was raped in June of this year, and
whose case is being ignored by the judicial authorities. My supervisor explained that the woman,
Carmen, was working as secretary to the mayor of a nearby town, when she was
drugged and raped by the mayor with the complicity of several colleagues. Because of the political nature of the case,
and because Carmen is Afro-Peruvian and poor, the authorities are trying to
sweep the incident under the rug.
CEDEMUNEP was asked to get involved, and so we are working to break the
silence and put pressure on the judicial authorities to issue a court ruling. Cecilia explained to me that we would be
writing a letter to the crown attorney, which would be sent out to
organizations in our regional, national, and international networks for them to
endorse. I thought it was a great idea,
until I realized that the “we” she was talking about was me. I would be writing the letter—in Spanish.
I
awkwardly tried to explain that my Spanish writing abilities were fairly basic,
but my speaking ability was also poor enough that I did not quite communicate
this critical point, and a few minutes later, I found myself staring at a blank
Word document with a pile of confusing papers in my lap to work from. It was one thing to write a paragraph about
women’s issues in Spanish class—it was quite another to feel that the future of
Carmen’s case rested on my ability to write a grammatically-correct, and even
convincing letter that would achieve the endorsements of hundreds of civil
society leaders and eventually be read by the crown attorney. Talk
about responsibility. Despite my
lack of confidence, I told myself that I had come to Peru to help in any way
that I could, and that I should at least try.
After hours of untangling the messy details of the case, I finally began
to grasp what had happened, and outline a letter. With much assistance from a dictionary, I was
able to complete the letter one day later.
My co-workers were thrilled and I was proud, and together we made some
final corrections and began to mail it out.
When
I had the opportunity to meet Carmen and her mother the next day, and listen to
her talk about the challenges she has faced over the last few months, I was
completely humbled by her courageous and relentless pursuit of justice—not just
for herself, but for all victims of sexual violence in Peru. When I gained a little perspective, I saw
that my own challenges in writing a letter paled in comparison to her struggles
with the entire government system. Not
only that, I grieved that my inarticulate letter could have more political
power in Peru than her own voice. When
she looked me in the eye and thanked me for my help, I finally realized that
the responsibility that I had been entrusted with was no longer something that
I wanted to run away from, but rather something that I wanted to fulfill to the
best of my ability. Like my friends at
CEDEMUNEP, I hope that I may have the courage and strength to fight for justice
until the very end.
No comments:
Post a Comment