{"id":12366,"date":"2023-04-25T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.destinyrescue.org\/?p=12366"},"modified":"2023-08-11T12:41:29","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T17:41:29","slug":"meant-for-good-lydias-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.destinyrescue.org\/blog\/meant-for-good-lydias-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Meant for Good: Lydia\u2019s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While sexual exploitation can take many forms, it always includes an element of entrapment. In some cases, children are victims of sex crimes such as rape, child marriage or kidnapping. Because many of these children live in constant danger of the crime continuing, offering rescue and reintegration can be the difference between a life of continual exploitation and freedom.<\/em><\/p>\n

To help illustrate how we define rescue in this category, we share the story of Lydia, one of Destiny Rescue’s survivors in Kenya.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trigger warning: Even with some of the more graphic details removed, Lydia’s story is heartbreaking and may be particularly difficult for readers who have survived rape or sexual assault. Please read with discretion.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is a wonderful day. We have to thank God for the gift of life\u2026.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n

Remember those words. They were Lydia’s first when she sat down to tell a story fraught with overwhelming cruelty, pain and heartache. Those words of gratitude are not only a testimony to the heroic resilience of the 16-year-old but also to the monumental healing God is doing in her life.<\/span><\/p>\n

For most of her early childhood, Lydia remembers growing up in a \u201chappy family.\u201d But everything changed when she reached Class 5 (the equivalent of fifth grade in the U.S.)<\/span><\/p>\n

In Kenya, although primary education does not require tuition, there are additional school fees that can create an insurmountable financial barrier for some families. In a region where many struggle to afford their next meal, school is often the first thing to get cut when money is tight. Unfortunately, that was the case for Lydia\u2019s schooling.<\/span><\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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According to UNICEF, before the COVID-19 outbreaks, Kenya\u2019s nationwide enrollment in primary education stood at 93%, but at the secondary level, it was only 53%<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

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At first, her mother and stepfather told her they could no longer afford her school fees. But things quickly worsened as family tensions rose: \u201cI was not even given food,\u201d Lydia said. <\/p>\n

Things came to a head when Lydia\u2019s mother called her daughter in for a talk one evening.<\/p>\n

Lydia\u2019s voice grew thick with emotion as she remembered what her mother told her that night: \u201cYour (step)father told me that you should leave\u2026 you should go away.\u201d <\/p>\n

Unable to care for their family, Lydia\u2019s parents had decided to send her out on her own to fend for herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I left home and went to stay with a neighbor,\u201d she recalled mournfully. <\/p>\n

But when her mother found out where she was staying, she told Lydia to leave the village altogether. With little else but a broken heart, Lydia trekked\u2014on foot\u2014out of the village she grew up in.<\/p>\n

She found a home with her grandmother, Faraja, who took Lydia in and cared for her as she would her own daughter. Despite living in extreme poverty, Lydia returned to school and found balance in her new life. <\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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A community in Kenya <\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

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The accident<\/h2>\n

That balance was upended one day when she was struck by a car during her walk home from church. Lydia was rushed to the hospital, and the doctors called her mother. Lydia, injured and afraid, was desperate for her mother\u2019s comfort\u2014but what her mom told her next hurt her more deeply than the car accident.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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A busy street in Nairobi, Kenya | Photo courtesy of Unsplash<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

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Sighing with sorrow, Lydia mourned what happened next. \u201cWhat (she) told me made me see that she was not my mother,\u201d Lydia recalled through tears. \u201cMy mother told me, \u2018You are still alive?\u2019 She said, \u2018I thought you were dead. I only came here to take a dead body back home.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Appalled at her behavior, Faraja sent Lydia\u2019s mother away. \u201cGo back where you came from and (leave) my daughter alone,\u201d Faraja said.<\/p>\n

Filled with compassion, Faraja from then on committed herself to act as Lydia\u2019s mother. Even while financially tight, the next two years were a time of relative stability for Lydia. She lived with her grandmother and was able to attend school again.<\/p>\n

Lydia recalls being excited to return to school during her eighth-grade half-term break. The next half of the term would begin with major exams that would significantly impact the rest of her school career. On the final Sunday evening of her break, she packed her school supplies for the morning before going to sleep.<\/p>\n

The attack<\/h2>\n

What should have been a night of peaceful rest before an exciting and important week at school took an awful turn.<\/p>\n

Lydia awoke in the black of the night to the sound of thieves invading their home. The invaders were unspeakably cruel to the two women. The men brutally assaulted Faraja during the robbery, beating her until they were sure they\u2019d gotten everything of value. Once they\u2019d taken what they wanted from her grandmother, one of the thieves stayed behind and viciously raped Lydia.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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In 2019, Kenya\u2019s National Violence Against Children Survey reported that 13.5% of girls and 2.4% of boys experience sexual violence by the age of 17 | Representational photo courtesy of Unsplash<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

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After he left, Lydia and Faraja, terribly wounded from the attack, had to go to a neighbour\u2019s house to call for help since Faraja\u2019s phone had been stolen. They were taken to the police and then the hospital for treatment.<\/p>\n

The hospital again called for Lydia\u2019s mother, but she refused to come, saying, \u201cThat child must be dead by now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The damage this negligence wrought on Lydia\u2019s shattered heart is difficult to overstate. Her mother\u2019s cruelty compounded Lydia\u2019s agony at the barbarism she\u2019d already endured. \u201cI felt sad,\u201d Lydia wept. \u201cBecause it is sad when you are in pain and your mother is not with you. When you are in pain, you need your mother\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lydia and Faraja were treated and sent home from the hospital, but things were more difficult now than ever. Young Lydia could not return to school for a week because her injuries prevented her from walking.<\/p>\n

To make matters worse, the thieves had marked Lydia and her grandmother as easy targets. After Faraja got a new phone, the brazen criminals called her to demand more money and \u201cthe girl.\u201d Faraja insisted that she had nothing left to give after the robbery and hospital bills. Having learned that Faraja had reported them to the police, the thieves called again at midnight to say they were coming to kill Faraja and Lydia in an attempt to eliminate them before the overworked police could build a case.<\/p>\n

Lydia and her grandmother once more fled to the police, who logged a report and advised them not to return home. A relative picked them up from the police station and brought them to his home. But now Lydia and Faraja found themselves caught on uncertain ground and in constant danger. At the same time, the teen and her grandmother needed a home, a source of income and a way for Lydia to get back to school.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Lydia\u2019s extended family knew about Destiny Rescue’s (an organisation whose rescue work in Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines Child rescue helps fund) project and suggested that Faraja and Lydia check it out. That suggestion turned Lydia\u2019s life around.<\/p>\n

Life after rescue<\/h2>\n

Our rescue team had to act quickly to ensure the women were safe. We helped move them to a secret location, and their phones were disconnected so the thieves couldn\u2019t find them. Lydia\u2019s voice brightened as she recalled coming to Destiny Rescue for the first time. She was treated with compassion as she told her story.<\/p>\n

After another visit to the doctor to take care of her physical wounds, she entered our EMPOWER<\/em> trauma rehabilitation program, where she began healing from deeper scars. Lydia was able to continue her education in a secure, hidden environment safe from the continual threat of her attackers.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Survivors completing a group activity at a local church<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

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Lydia has since graduated from EMPOWER<\/em> trauma counseling! \u201cAs the caseworker for Lydia, I can say she is a strong girl,\u201d one of our staff members said, noting the impact of her family\u2019s rejection and the strength exhibited by Lydia as she worked through her pain.<\/p>\n

During counseling, she learned to accept herself, process pain and rejection and begin forgiving her mother and attackers. Most exciting of all, Lydia accepted Christ as her savior! Lydia still has many challenges ahead of her, but she\u2019ll face them with Christ at her side.<\/p>\n

A new guardian graciously took Lydia in to help remove some financial burden from Faraja. Lydia\u2019s guardian has benefitted from our economic empowerment program and operates a small business she launched during the program. The money she earns enables her to feed her family and cover Lydia\u2019s school fees and other necessities.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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According to US Aid, two-thirds of Kenyans live in poverty, making less than USD$3.20 per day<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

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In the months following her rescue, Lydia completed our reintegration program and will celebrate her graduation with other candidates in a ceremony in June. She was able to take the primary exams she missed due to the attack and passed! She is currently attending Kenya\u2019s equivalent of high school.<\/p>\n

A shining soul<\/h2>\n

Despite all that she\u2019s persevered, Lydia is full of hope for the future.<\/p>\n

Her journey prompted her to change her original dream of becoming a journalist. \u201cNow, I want to be a judge so that I can help other children who are going (through) the same situation,\u201d Lydia said with a smile.<\/p>\n

Lydia concluded her interview the same way she began it: with gratitude.<\/p>\n

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Now I am going to school, and I am happy! And I thank God,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

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Vocational training such as tailoring or beauty therapy, or returning to school, is an essential step toward freedom for many of the children Destiny Rescue rescues<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

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This thankfulness is remarkable, especially considering the devastating hardships she faced. Her attitude is reminiscent of Joseph from the Bible, who famously told the men who sold him into slavery (who also happened to be his brothers), \u201cYou meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.\u201d<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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In Lydia\u2019s words, \u201cI see it was God\u2019s plan\u2026many people see it (as) bad, but I see it as God\u2019s plan so that I could be helped.\u201d<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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And just as Joseph in the Bible forgave his brothers for selling him into bondage, Lydia is hopeful for family reconciliation. \u201cI know my mother will return to me,\u201d she said at the end of her interview.<\/p>\n

If you share Lydia\u2019s passion for helping victims of exploitation and abuse, please join us by donating below. Your gift enables us to help rescue children, see to their immediate needs and share the limitless healing power of Christ\u2019s love with these dear souls.<\/p>\n

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Her name has been changed to protect her identity and her actual image has not been used. Her story has been gathered and shared with her input and informed consent with the oversight of her caseworker. We are grateful for the honor of amplifying her voice.<\/em><\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n