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The JMC
Domestic Violence Prevention Program began in July of 2005 with a simple summer
journey. Instead of a vacation on a Caribbean Island, a great adventure
presented itself
in the form of a
Reality Tour by Global Exchange
to
Honduras. The people I met affected me
profoundly. I was moved beyond words by their poverty, simple needs
that do not get met, the illiteracy, and the lack of social services.
As a licensed
psychotherapist practicing in Southern California, I asked the women’s
groups who we met with what I could do to help them. This question
opened Pandora’s Box of needs not met. The most crucial needs I could
help with were in the areas of gender and domestic violence education and
prevention. I personally took on this monumental project with a promise
to assist them in obtaining their goals.
The project was
stuck in my mind as I worked with a victim of
domestic and gender violence back home. I realized that just putting together a therapy program and delivering it to the women would
not be enough. More had to be done. There was no Safe-House in La
Esperanza which continues to be a hurdle that must be overcome. There were no
psychotherapists to teach the program; there was no money to buy
land and build a safe house. All of this remains the same to date.
More must be done!
I went ahead with
the Therapeutic Program, researched, wrote, and consulted with
colleagues who were more familiar with Central American
culture. I finally completed the program that I had promised the women.
However there
were still many pieces missing that I felt needed to be added to the
project.
With that thought, The JMC Domestic Violence
Prevention Program, Inc. charity was born. In July of 2006 I returned
to Honduras and the women of La Esperanza. I had in hand several copies
of the Therapeutic Program translated into Spanish, and a charity in the
making. It was that trip that solidified my commitment to this project
and these women.
While visiting the capital Tegucigalpa my guide and
translator Sandra Cuffe took me to the only Safe-house in existence in
Honduras. We met the women and one of the members of the Board of
Directors. We also toured the candle-making shop that helped supplement the income needed to
keep the safe-house running. The women's candles
were exquisite. These women stirred vats of hot wax in the oppressive
heat of the Honduran summer. I admired their tenacity, their joy in
their art, and most of all, their courage to keep on going in the face of such
adversity.
As we left the wooden warehouse that had been turned into
the temporary shelter I felt hopeful that things could change. I noticed
however that the fence around the property
was rickety and no one had stopped to ask us who we were.
I was committed to this
project, but with the news of the devastating fire that killed 9 women and
children at the only safe house in Honduras, my passion grew
stronger.
Getting to this point in the project has taken an enormous amount of work.
However, it seems that each step has brought a new person into the
project willing to help, and always for free. These are the people who
are not constant volunteers, but have one specialty that is needed and
are willing to take the time to contribute their talents. Each person
echoing the other, saying, “this is a worthy cause, so I’d be happy to
help …with the art, stationary, tee-shirts, graphics, website…etc.”
Whether it wasthe Website builder, Rick Roberts; Gail Fadina who
is the unpaid CFO and fantastic proof-reader, or Jamie Romano who helped
put the mounds of papers together that had to go to more government
agencies than I knew existed. A special thanks to my brother,
Robert J. Carlson Esq. for his endless support and guidance. Every hand that reached out, I took hold
of, and every hand I reached for, took a hold of mine. So, for all
those who have gone unnamed here, you are not forgotten. Your advice,
encouragement, and talents have given me the courage to keep going, when
I felt the project would never be pulled together. BUT MORE IS
NEEDED!
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Cathleen A. Carlson founder, visiting with the Guinakirina and COPINH Women's Group in La Esperanza, Honduras
Visiting the women
in Tegucigalpa
Safe House in 2006
In the dead of night on October 5, 2006, this “Safe-house” was burned to the
ground, it was occupied by some of the women and children I had spent
an afternoon with in July.
As these mother’s grieve their children who were burned to death that
are placed in the caskets next to them: I couldn’t help but wonder which
of these children I might have met in July.
AP Photo/Edgard Garrido
The bodies of women who needed a safe-house are being pulled from the
ashes of what turned out to be not safe at all. That organization
could not afford the protection of guards for these women and children.
AP Photo/Edgard Garrido
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