22 Aug Exciting Plans Set for Dulce Refugio
Our Dulce Refugio ministry is a home for girls who are 18 years old or older and come from backgrounds of abuse. It is small ministry that we have often called a life raft, meaning that we “cannot save everyone that needs help to overcome abuse but we can at least save a few.” Sexual abuse is a serious matter in Honduras. Here are a couple of statistics from the website of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at cgrs.uchastings.edu:
- In July 2014 the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women noted that violent deaths of women in Honduras had increased 263.4 percent between 2005 and 2013. The Special Rapporteur noted scores of concerns regarding the high levels of domestic violence, femicide, and sexual violence.
- In Honduras, there is a 95 percent impunity rate for sexual violence and femicide crimes. As noted by the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, “the lack of accountability for violations of human rights of women, is the norm rather than the exception.”
The Center for Gender and Refugee studies describes femicide as; “the systematic killing of girls and women with impunity.” They further state that in “Honduras –it is widespread.” Isn’t that something that Christians everywhere should be concerned about? We think so!
Mission UpReach is dreaming of the day when we can offer a larger scale project that includes both a place to live and psychological counseling for girls and young women who have been traumatized by abuse. It will take several million dollars to construct the proper facilities and to train and staff the home. Right now, we can only dream about having that amount of money to begin such a project. In the meantime, our hearts break from the stories of some of the young girls that we come in contact with.
When we do reach the point of having the resources that we need we will need to be able to feed, house and educate these young girls. We will also need to be able to equip them to start and run small businesses. Many girls, especially if they are from villages, are not able to earn a living because there are no paying jobs available. This often leads to a young girl living with a guy just because he is her income support. Will you begin praying with us about the future of Dulce Refugio? We need the resources to expand this ministry to reach the hundreds of young girls and women who suffer from abuse that most of us can only imagine.
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