Week One...

About a half hour ago I left my last class of my first week of May Term. The week has been absolutely incredible, soaking in so much information. Here's a breakdown of this week:

Monday, day 1: Introductory class for a deceptively short six hours. We talked about the terms "family violence" and "abuse" and the reaction to it from the social perspective. We walked through the process of what exactly happens when someone reports a case of child abuse and about all the social workers involved with it. I left the class even more excited than when I started. Our professor was a social worker for a number of years and the stories she shared with us were just incredible. She had stories to relate to EVERYTHING we talked about in class. It was just amazing. That's all there is to it.

Tuesday, day 2: Class seemed terribly short as it was "only" two hours long. We talked about the church's reaction to domestic violence, especially child abuse, as well as how to prevent it. We watched a very well made (or not so well made...) movie done by our professor's church that all volunteers have to watch before working with children. Our class could probably make a better one.

Wednesday, day 3: Field trip! We drove out to Calimesa to the Garden of Angels. This is a cemetery, or part of one actually, where babies abandoned at birth are buried. We met the lady who started this ministry, and she told us her moving story. She was watching the news one day in 1996 when she heard about a baby who had been found dead in a duffel bag along a freeway in LA. She went to the coroner and asked if she could have the baby to give it a proper burial. Two more babies were found in similar fashion later that week, and she did the same for them. She named them Matthew, Nathan, and Dora (all meaning "Gift of God"), and purchased a plot of land in a cemetery where she could bury these babies and more. She then went to the coroners' offices in four counties--LA county, Orange County, Riverside County, and San Bernadino County--and asked them to call her if they came across any more so that she could give them names and a burial. Now, twelve years later, she has 81 babies buried in her "garden," each with a name. A couple years after she started Garden of Angels, she heard another news story about a baby who had been dropped off, alive, at a hospital. Law enforcement was searching for the mother, saying that she could serve 5 years in prison for felony abandonment charges. After hearing this, Mrs. Faris began working with a state politician to pass a law that allowed mothers to drop off their babies at a hospital or fire station with no questions at, and without consequences. The moms could fill out an optional medical history form, and they would be given a wrist band in case they wanted to reclaim their babies within 14 days. The law was finally passed in California, and is now also a law in all 50 states. She told us that since that law was passed, she has seen a significant drop in the number of babies she has had to bury, and over 200 have been saved in California.

This was such a moving and humbling experience. To imagine that ONE woman would make such a difference in practically unfathomable. Essentially, she has saved over 200 lives, and has given a home, an identity, and a final resting place to 81 more. Its amazing to me.

Thursday, day 4, and last day of Week 1: Today Deputy District Attorney Jason Anderson came to visit and talked to us about his work in the fight against domestic violence. He is in the family violence unit, and is the prosecuting attorney on scores of domestic violence cases, especially focusing on crimes against children. It was great to hear about the law's perspective on this subject. The stories of the cases he had for us were disturbing to say the least. But, he also is taking an active stand against it. I walked away from class once again realizing what amazing people are involved in this fight. It makes me want to do something too, but I just don't know how.

Next week we're going to hear from someone from Ontario PD and taking another field trip. Then the following week we're going to see what the reaction to this subject is in Mexico on our trip to Door of Faith Orphanage.