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DAVID: David is a 12-year-old boy whose face tells the story of his childhood. The lines on his face are scars from years of abuse by his father. His skin is dark from being unprotected from the sun. However, his smile is beautiful and his eyes are captivating. Those eyes turned from inquisitive to sad and reflective as he sat next to us on the steps of his current home and told us his story.
According to David, his mother didn't want him and his father was a drunk who beat him. So a judge sent him to his current home, a government-run child protection center, which is much like a children's prison. He has had no visitors since his arrival over a year ago. When he was asked if he liked living in the center he quickly said, "No." When he was asked why, he said, "They give us food and we go to school, but it's not like being in your own home with a family." This comment was from a child who found nothing but pain and abuse at home.
David desperately wants to belong to someone and he longs for a family. As he looked at us with those deep, dark, hopeless eyes, I knew exactly what he was thinking because we were thinking it too. He wanted me to take him away from this place and give him a family... someone to love him... someone to help him heal all the wounds he has on the inside... the wounds no one can see... wounds that have robbed him of hope and broken his young heart.
ALICIA: Alicia is a beautiful 18-month old baby girl with a smile that can light up a room. However, it takes a long time for that smile to emerge. In Alicia's short life, she has known little love or attention. She was found wandering the streets of a busy city in Honduras at 2:30 a.m. A caring woman found her and brought her to the police, who then left her in a government-run child protection center.
Two weeks after arriving at the center, a young teenage woman arrived and claimed to be Alicia's mother. She told the center's director that she wanted her baby back. The mother was informed that child neglect and endangerment is a crime and if she wanted her daughter back she would have to go to court and prove to a judge she's capable of caring for her baby. The young mother has not been seen since.
Alicia remains in the government center waiting for someone to come to care for her... someone to love her. She will remain in the government center until a family member comes to take her or she is placed in a private children's home, like The Hope of Jesus Children's Home.
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