“You think about leaving all the time.” Deidra’s Story
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Deidra* was eight years old when her mother died, so she and all her siblings were moved across the country to live with their aunt in Bolivia’s urban center, La Paz. During that time, only Deidra and her aunt were working to support the 12 member family. “It was miserable living there,” Deidra recalls.
Later, Deidra’s life was shaped by two abusive husbands, both of whom she left. Now, with four children, she labored doing all sorts of jobs to support them. Over the next few years, Deidra was pursued, however, by the children’s father who urged and persuaded her to return. But he had not changed his alcoholic and abusive manner. They took out loans so that he could begin the business he wanted. This led to the loss of all their belongings, and Deidra kicked him out, after which he completely disappeared. But the banks came pounding on the door with threats to throw Deidra and her kids out on the street. She remembers how hungry her children were at that time.
“There’s never a lack of bad friends,” Deidra shares, and one told her that she could go to the brothels and make money that very night. Any other job and she would have to wait weeks for payday. So she went. She was 40 years old.
“After you’ve lived such a horrible life,” Deidra explains, “it’s like you don’t even notice [the next phase of abuse.] You all walk out [of the brothels the next morning] laughing, as if nothing happened. It’s like they say, it’s a vicious cycle. You think all the time of leaving [prostitution.] But you ask yourself, ‘who would respect me?’ ‘who would give me a job?’ And while you’re thinking, the years are going by.” From loss, poverty and abuse to more hardship and exploitation, Deidra’s life slid down the track that circumstance and culture have paved for women for millennia.
After several years, Deidra’s son became very ill and was hospitalized. She did not have the money to pay the medical bills, and grew desperate. It was then that someone told her about a place known as the House of Hope. It seemed worth a try. That next day, the first encounter with Word Made Flesh staff began a relationship which is cherished and still growing today, ten years later. Her children and grandchildren have since joined that relationship, and Deidra says, “They’ve grown up here.” After Deidra first heard of the idea of SutiSana, she persistently inquired about it until it opened its doors in 2010. The woman who would become one of the first employees, an instructor and production assistant, would find support in the most difficult journey of her life, the journey towards new life.
“It was easier to get used to life in the brothels, than to leave, to start a new life,” Deidra explains. “You have to forgive everything, the big and the small. And most of all, you have to forgive yourself.”
*A pseudonym, to protect her identity.
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Spring Into Action is your opportunity to raise funds for women like Deidra.
SutiSana doesn’t just pay survivors per bag produced, but provides a full-time salary and benefits: about $342 per woman, per month. Bag sales contribute to cover this, but we need your help to continue to provide this unique care.
Visit sutisana.com/springintoaction to learn more and get started!
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