The following story is shared by Barbara Metcalf, long-standing member of the Ending Violence Educators (EVE) Team who recently returned from a trip to Ensenada, Mexico where they worked alongside the HFL partners at El Refugio, an organization providing education for women and children in the areas of women’s health training, violence and risk against women, and leadership.
It was the first outing for our EVE team upon our arrival in Ensenada, Mexico. The team would be teaching and meeting with small groups throughout their stay surrounding the topic of ending violence. As we walked into the nursery, I was drawn to the crib of a nine-month-old baby girl who was the size of a newborn. She had a mass of dark black hair with little pink bows in it and her skin was cyanotic [blue] from lack of oxygen at birth. She was so clearly loved by the nurses, who showed their care with tender touches and soft words. She had been abandoned at birth, but I believe that this was her mother’s only way of giving her life considering the specialized care she would receive here. As I gently rubbed her head, her eyes turned to look at me with a soul-warming peace.
I found myself praying… “Lord let me experience this moment accepting what I see and healing from past memories. Lord let me embrace this moment and hold it forever just as it is right now. I am in awe of the beauty and depth of this moment. I am loved and not alone. This babe is opening my heart and guiding my path to the places my team and I need to be with every teaching class, every woman’s group, with the girls at El Refugio [the mission] and all those we touch. I feel such power in knowing that we are loved and not alone.”
