by Anji Barker

Today was the final straw for me. Little Goff (5 years) has come to school covered in red marks and welts after being beaten mercilessly with a coat hanger by his drunk grandfather. Last week he had stitches in the top of his head after the grandfather had smashed a ceramic plate on his head. All of this happens less than 5 meters from my house. This poor little boy is beaten- often for no reason, while his grandmother and various other adults sit around the house, grateful that he is not beating them instead. We constantly struggle with how to intervene when, in the slum, it is considered a sin to interfere within someone else’s family. In the past we have intervened with this family but the outcome only seems to make things worse and we are left unable to help the child any further.

We are not neutral as we standby. We too commit sin in these cases;

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. — Desmound Tutu

When we see an elephant step on a mouse’s tail and do nothing – we are taking the side of the elephant.

Today this stops for me- culturally appropriate or not, we have to act. Thanks to many volunteers to help sell handicrafts I have the resources today to pay Blah to take this little boy up country to live with his Aunty and cousins- away from the violence and chaos. Maybe it is not too late to save this little one, who has suffered so much in his short life. $100 per month means he has a future and a hope, growing up next to a beautiful beach and with gentle lovely cousins who we previously rescued from the same house. Maybe we have waited too long? Maybe the trauma is already too great? Only God can intervene, and we wait to see what the consequences will be.

(After writing this the whole situation blew up, and Blah has been stopped at the train station by her angry relatives. Goff has been taken by his father for the 3rd time, and will probably end up back where he started in a week or so! We have probably just made his life worse not better!)

On Monday my friend Lyn and I, went with Blah to see a 15 year old boy (Onn), who has spent the last 10 years of his life locked away in a box. It was heartbreaking to see this beautiful young man, who probably has just a mild intellectual disability, being treated like a wild animal. The family asked us for a wheel chair, but this boy can actually walk if they let him out of the cage.

We could see that he would benefit from the special school that both Foam and Bart attend, and have offered the family support including daily transport school fees and food to send him there. Sadly they have declined our offer as they feel embarrassed having him out in public. This poor young man will spend the rest of his sad life locked away, and I am helpless to do anything for him. Child protection laws in Thailand are very weak especially when poor and disabled people are involved- and once a child is 15 they are considered an adult- not by law- but by disinterest.

Last night we were sitting down to eat dinner and a fight broke out in the front of our house. I opened the door to see 2 young guys running down the soi with big machetes chasing another 17 year old. They cut him as he ran- thankfully only his hand seemed to be bleeding, but the agro and violence just kept going. I felt scared, but this young man decided to go back to where he had fled from his attackers- who were still standing there with their machetes, and get right in their face. His hand was pouring with blood but he seemed oblivious. My fellow onlookers just rolled their eyes and told me it is fine as they are all relatives! These are the families we seek transformation for! How on earth can change occur in such an environment?

A few glimpses of hope in a hard week- our boys enjoying a free night in a hotel. Poo in Canberra as the celebrity chef for the voices for justice campaign.

It reminds me of the frog in the saucepan. The water slowly gets hotter over time and the frog doesn’t realize it until he is boiled alive. If another frog was put into the pot while it was hot he would jump straight out as he knows there is something wrong.

As UNOH workers we are outsiders who have come into this community, 10 years or 20 years here, will never make us locals, as we know there is a different way of life out there. We have lived it, and benefited from it.

In UNOH we have a strong value on coming into communities in a learning posture not imposing our cultural values on others where we can help it. However there are some things I think we actually have to contribute as frogs from outside the pot.

We have to demonstrate an alternative way of life- not just within our own families, but also in how we side with the mouse over the elephant. Sometimes we have to be willing to be hated.

The MacCartney’s recently were instrumental in having a preddatorial peadophile put in jail after he had been raping little 3 and 4 year old girls for the last 20 years. The whole community was aware of this and kept saying not to interfere. However, they chose to help the mouse over the elephant.  Their neighbors were mad and complained, and bad mouthed them for interfering- yet every 3 and 4 year old girl is eternally grateful, whether they are aware of this or not. Interestingly now the drama is all over and the man is in jail- many neighbors have quietly thanked them for doing something they were too scared to do.

Being the frog from outside the pot can have as many advantages as disadvantages. We have come from stable nurturing childhoods that result in us having good self esteem and a strong sense of who we are in Christ. Our neighbors and staff don’t have this- even those who appear strong and together.  They have had the same violence abuse and lack of understanding around them since the day they were born. They can be boiling in the pot but completely unaware. We are the ones with the resources who should be prepared to take the heat on their behalf.

In this we put a spotlight on our own failings and imperfections also. As we bring what is done in secret into the light – so too our lives are examained and our motives layed bare- and we have to be prepared to face the ugliness in that. Otherwise we become just like the elephant, only we stand on a cat, or a different mouse. The log and speck illustration makes heaps of sense in our context here.

Is there any hope then? Well in the practical human sense I have to say the whole thing is just too big. There are huge implications if any of these families transform, as the social fabric and ecosystems that they are part of in this squashed up community, are complex and ancient.

But this is the hope that I cling to: That Christ who is in me and surrounds me can do more than is humanly possible to transform evil into good, darkness into light, and hopeless into hope. How He does that is a mystery. The miracle is He chooses to use us as part of this mystery and following Him keeps us aware that the water is getting hotter.

Bring On Your Kingdom Lord!

Anji