I am using this space in my blog to write notes concerning certain events or information that I have collected while here in Brazil that I have yet to write about. This is my last full day in Brazil and I still have some reorganizing to do in my luggage, so please excuse the shortness; blogs are to follow with more details on certain events.
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I was robbed at gunpoint on a mountain hike on December 4th, 2011--robbed at GUNPOINT.
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Three or four of the boys at the Lar, were severely sexually and physically abused before entering the Lar and are currently being diagnosed for severe personality disorders, schizophrenia, aspergers, and being either sociopathic or psycopathic. Said boys are between the ages of 10 and 15 years old.
Unfortunately Brazil does not have a government program in place that would provide alternative care for these children, especially because they are under 18 years old and cannot be legally diagnosed with such mental disorders. This currently means that the only alternative option would be to put them out on the dangerous streets--which is not considered an option for the Lar administration team. However, these boys have proved to be a major issue in creating a healthy and safe environment for other children.
Surprisingly, more boys than girls have been severely sexually abused before coming to the Lar and show signs of such abuse in their own homes.
These young boys have serious issues with masturbation and attempts to sexually harass younger, weaker boys in their house. In fact, the doors had to be taken off all the rooms in the boys' houses with the exception of the troubled boys whom have doors that lock from the outside. Sexual harassment and sexual attempts are common and frequent that even within the past week, one of the two new boys has almost fallen victim.
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In the past, three boys at the ages of 6, 6, and 7 years old attempted to kidnap and rape a young girl at the Lar behind one of the buildings. Since then, the Lar has been split between two primary properties to house the boys and girls separately and only come together for lunch and special events.
Some of the boys display no remorse; breaking of heads of live chickens, abusing both boys and girls, and inflicting self pain or pleasure.
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One of the sweetest little boys is ten years old and the brother of one of the aforementioned four troubled boys. He is a tiny ten year-old due to fetal alcoholism. The troubled bother was asked by a psychologist in the past to demonstrate his home life using a scooby-doo toy to represent himself and other toys to represent his other family members. In this activity the boy demonstrated that he was severely physically abused at home.
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Another boy is fairly new. He is a sweetheart to me, but very rough around the edges. He arrived at the Lar about a month after I arrived and was a trouble-maker from the start. He was brought in straight off the streets as a drug runner. His parents were drug addicts and dealers and would use him to transport the drugs to clients, putting him in very rough situations.
When I first met him I thought he was one of the house mom's sons because I had never seen him before and he was in the boys' house acting like he owned the place at only about seven years of age.
The next evening the other intern and I were in charge of watching over the 60 kids that live at the main location while the house moms were in an administration meeting. This young fire-ball of a boy was causing a scene as he was chasing kids, jumping over low walls, and walking around in a mockery, womanly manner. He would crack jokes in Portuguese and at one point was flinging his hand to continually flip-off at a young girl that has a mental handicap and cannot speak.
Upon viewing such behavior, I was quick to practice discipline in telling him no and attempting to communicate as best I could with the little Portuguese I know. He seemed stunned that I was disciplining him in defense of another child. He stopped and looked at me with wide eyes of curiosity and gratefulness that I cared enough for another child and that I may indeed care for him in a similar way.
I cannot quite explain how I knew all this from his look and attention given the language barrier, but it is something I simply knew.
I found out that night that he was not a son of one of the house moms and began to pray for him. He has grown on my heart abundantly and more quickly than many others. I went to bed that night just wanting to get down to his level and give him a big hug.
After that, he was so curious to talk to me and be around me. That Sunday while I was teaching Sunday school, he seemed like a boy open to growth and authority. He listened and reacted to discipline in a way that showed improvement.
In only a month I have seen this young rebel begin to transform into a young boy--which is what he is supposed to be: a boy in his young childhood. He was still testing his limits, but he was learning.
In my last few days at the Lar, he gave me a kiss on the cheek and was smiling more genuinely and frequently. Also, when he noticed that I had been FaceTiming one of my best friends, Ryan, in order to show him the kids at the Lar and give the kids someone new to make faces at, the boy flipped Ryan off, presumably due to his preconceived notions concerning men in their early twenties.
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Two of the boys got invited to go stay with their dad for Christmas, who refused to raise them after their mom got shot and killed so they were passed to their physically abusive aunt. The boys say they are afraid to go back with their dad.
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