Evonne (not her real name) came to us as a “taxi girl”. Just fifteen and already a series of sexual partners. She has been raised in a culture of sex and violence. As is our custom during orientation we sent her for a medical checkup to get her cleared to transfer to the Ranch where a new life of education, spiritual formation and community would begin. However, “she is HIV positive” came the test results. Her mother has the eighth in a series of live-in boy friends, most of whom have molested her. Which one is the culprit, no one knows.
However, Evonne is becoming typical of a growing HIV/AIDS crisis in the Philippines. Some estimates from the Health Department are that the reported cases of HIV positives are doubling every year. Although the Philippines has never been considered a country where this worldwide epidemic is a threat, now the situation is changing. Most of the cases have been traced to OCW’s (overseas contract workers) bringing the virus back from distant lands.
Evonne is the first case we have personally dealt with, but from our interview with her and other girls all STD’s are on the rise and this may well be the “tip of the iceberg”.
Please make this a matter of prayer and spiritual warfare.
Glenn
Filed under: News
Trackback Uri