Fruit Babies!

Jimasi, all!

Sarah here ☺ I wanted to share something that has recently been on my heart here in Kathmandu. We’ve shared with you how much in love we are with the street boys we’ve been working with, and some of the mental and emotional struggles we’ve gone through in thinking about their well being. But we haven’t shared much of our experiences with the women and girls we’ve met here in Nepal, so I’d like to fill you in.

The other day we went to Ratna Park, as always, to meet Dilip and spend time with some of the boys. Sometimes a few street girls show up, like Goma, a pretty little 16-year-old who recently found out that she is pregnant. This time though, an older woman showed up whom we had never seen before. She approached us sitting on the steps of the amphitheatre and shook each of our hands and sat down in front of me. That’s when we noticed that something wasn’t right. She kept making strange hand gestures, pointing to the sky and then giving us a thumbs up, then pointing down and saying “Nepal!” and wiping her hands clean of the place, shaking her head and shouting “No, not good!” Her mood jumped up and down dramatically within the span of a few minutes until she turned into a child, her arms wrapped around my legs and her head on my lap, clinging to me for love, or comfort, or stability, and avoiding the gaze of most of the men around us. Dilip came and sat in front of her to ask her questions and we found out her name is Laxmi. She has a child my age, 21, and a husband. She explained to Dilip, with her head on my lap, that she left home because her husband took 5 other wives and consistently beat her (at this point she showed us the wounds he left on each of her arms). It was apparent that the pain of her abuse, leaving home, and now living in Ratna Park (where most of the women are prostitutes) had taken it’s toll. She kept pointing to the sky and shaking her fists, crying out “God!” Dilip said she was saying that she wants to go to Heaven, which she now saw as her only way out. She had fled one abusive and domineering man only to find herself on the street, surrounded by men who would use her because she can’t do anything about it. I was touched and heartbroken by her obvious pain, but my heart was also warmed by Dilip’s approach. The love and compassion in his gaze stood in striking opposition to the treatment she’d faced at the hands of certain men.

Laxmi’s story is one I’ve heard more than once from the street girls that have developed a close relationship with Rina, a woman from YWAM that works alongside Dilip. One of the girls I talked to is 20 years old and has a 12-year-old son. She left home for the street because her husband took another wife. Now she is largely dependent on the kindness of the street boys she lives with. The girls and women on the streets of Nepal are incredibly vulnerable. From what we’ve learned, the street girls usually sleep with all of the boys in exchange for food, drugs, and the safety of their company. The dangers are obvious: pregnancy, the spread of HIV, and rape to name a few. We’ve also learned that tourists frequently use street kids, male and female, sexually, either forcefully or for money.

One group of little ones we’ve become close with we have dubbed my “fruit babies.” Kara, in Nepali, means banana. Kara and Sarah sound similar, so these kids have dubbed me accordingly, and when we see them on the street they yell “Banana, Banana!” and swarm around me for hugs and water. They have their own nicknames: Pineapple, Apple, Orange, Lychee, Mango, etc. This group doesn’t live full-time on the street. They have homes and at least one parent, but they are poor and many of their parents work all day long, leaving them on their own. So during the day they come to Thamel and sell postcards for 5 rupees each. The girls in this group are very small, about 8 years old. Sometimes they walk from their homes in another part of the city to Thamel all by themselves. Since we’ve become close with these kids, I’ve seen older men approach them several times. One man made kissing noises to Apple and spoke to her rapid-fire in Nepali as she covered her ears and hid behind me. The only word I picked up was ramri, “beautiful.” I’ve also seen tourists, older men travelling by themselves, single the girls out as their “little sisters,” acting very friendly with them, buying them ice cream, and coming to Thamel solely to spend time with them.

My gut reaction is to threaten the physical safety of any man that approaches these beautiful, innocent, naïve little girls. But for obvious reasons, that is out of the question. And I know that when I leave, there may not be anyone around Thamel at night that knows and loves these girls enough to watch out for them until they go home. The thought of how easy it would be to lure them out of the public eye terrifies me. With only 9 days left here in Kathmandu, I count every moment we are able to spend with these girls and ensure they are somewhere safe as precious, but I know that when we leave, prayer is the only tool I will have. So I’m asking you to join me.

Please pray for the women and girls living on the streets of Nepal. Pray that they would be protected and cared for, that they would not be used, and that they would not find themselves with prostitution as their only option. Pray for healing for the mental and emotional damage caused to those girls and women who have been exploited. Pray for those women and girls on the street who find themselves pregnant and without options. Please also pray for the street boys who have been exploited, and who now see sexual abuse as a normal part of life. Pray that they would not be used anymore, that they would not use others in return, and that the Lord would bring healing to them and restore their image of themselves and of others.

As we get into the single-digits of our time left here, we are soaking in the time we have with the boys and girls who have become our dear friends. Please pray that our time would be used by the Lord to the fullest! We love and miss you all and pray that you are well. Thank you for your prayers and support!

Sarah, Kevin, and Chris