Guatemala Update with Corbey Dukes We hosted a virtual “family meeting” on June 10 with Country Director Corbey Dukes and …
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God is working in
Escuintla!
Please pray for...
Healing for survivors and healthy family restoration
Wisdom as we navigate the legal system in pursuit of justice for abusers
Strength and rest for our dedicated staff
Continued protection and health, knowing that while the threat of COVID-19 will eventually retreat, recovery from its impact will be more long term
Prayer requests updated 6/2020
Escuintla "Families Together" Care Center provides comprehensive care to young victims of sexual violence. The girls who come to us for help have been referred to our program by a judge, and we offer them physical, psychological, spiritual, and legal support.
Trauma-informed therapy is critical to helping these girls process what has happened to them and begin the healing process. Our trained staff works in partnership with legal experts to prepare them to face their abusers and seek justice on their behalf. And we provide educational support, knowing that quality academics are a vital component of breaking cycles of poverty and violence.
Our work is yielding tremendous fruit! In one year, 49 victims have been assisted, 50 abusers are being prosecuted and six have been sentenced. We are the only faith-based organization invited to join a group of 17 organizations in the Escuintla department to work on better processes and care for sexual abuse victims.
In the coming months, we hope to provide the necessary therapy and support that will allow for healing and family reunification when it is safely possible. An important element of our work is to make a positive impact on the legal system, recommending best practices that avoid revictimization and promoting children’s rights. The work before us can be exhausting, but our great God is using Escuintla as a Light in some of the darkest corners of Guatemala.
Poverty and violence are often intertwined with systematic injustice. Our primary work at Escuintla Care Center is focused on rescuing and restoring young victims of sexual abuse placed in our care by judges. Sexual abuse and exploitation are common here, and the vast majority of perpetrators go unpunished. Not only is Kids Alive committed to helping these precious girls heal from traumatic abuse, but we are also driven to seek justice on their behalf, partnering with the Guatemalan government and International Justice Mission to make systematic improvements so that all children are treated more justly.
Through His work in our staff, God has allowed us to be innovators in foster care, family reintegration, and comprehensive care for victims of sexual violence.
Once again, we greet you in the name of Jesus from the ministries of Kids Alive in Guatemala!
I want to thank you for being a part of planting hope in Guatemala this year. We rejoice that this is not simply a hope for escaping poverty or abuse or for a better career – you are planting the living hope (1 Pet. 1:3) in their lives which means an eternity with the One who loves them!
It’s been amazing to see God opening doors for the ministry here to influence not just the children we serve but the entire country. They are benefiting from your care in ways that go far beyond their individual cases, and these ripples increase every year.
The prophet Amos wrote that we should “hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice.” It is a privilege for me to lead a team that hates evil. How I love seeing the staff at Oasis, Arquilla, Casa Ester, Source of Hope, and Escuintla Care Center “love what is good” as they lead hurting children to a loving and good Father.
In the coming year, we will implement a pilot program and outfit a dedicated space at Escuintla that will reduce the number of times a sexually abused child must tell her story. Currently 14 different people interview her, causing her trauma to multiply, and our goal is to reduce this to one. We are also working to strengthen the ministry at Casa Ester for young women who, because of special needs, require supervised care beyond the age most ministries can provide.
At Source of Hope School, where heavy rains mixed with volcanic ash from last fall’s eruption of Fuego has made life even more difficult for this community, we continue to plant living hope
in the lives of impoverished children. One of our joys this year is that 67 of
our kids are participating in voluntary after-school discipleship classes,
demonstrating their hunger for the truth of God’s Word.
Because of your support, children and families are being introduced to Jesus each day. He gives them a new identity and we help them learn new ways to respond to the world based on that identity. And we are working hard to turn the courts of Guatemala into “true halls of justice,” helping to make all children here safer.
Thank you for all the ways you help Kids Alive
plant living hope in the lives of children.
Corbey Dukes
Country Director
Guatemala