Registration

“Sure, I will register them tomorrow”. That’s what I kept hearing from Fanny about her two children who should have been registered over a month ago. “Well, I can’t find their birth papers” or “I work during the day”. It was excuse after excuse with her. I tried to talk to Danillo (the dad) but that was of no use. He told me he didn’t have the money to register them. All he needed was 50 cents per child to get new birth papers, get them copied, then taken to the school for the director. I gave him the money and he promised to register the kids the next day. Nothing. I have spent countless hours talking to the family, talking to others in town about these kids who have parents who don’t care, and thinking about them. I would think about the situation in bed and fall asleep trying to come up with a solution. Thoughts jumped back and forth in my head that maybe I should just give up. The parents are of no use, why should I be spending all my time on this? Fanny causes me so much anxiety and I can see the damage she is doing to her kids. I want so bad for her to change, even though she tells me she will, I know she will not. I wanted to give up.

Friday morning I went to the place in town where you can get a new birth certificate. I brought with me written down the kids names and their parents names. I had asked Danillo the night before what his kids birthdays were, but he didn’t know. He didn’t know his own kids birthdays. Nor could he write their names. I asked him to write the girls full names on the paper so I would have the spelling correct, he couldn’t write. So I did the best I could and wrote their names down on the paper. The next morning I went the office and sat in line. An hour later I was finally attended to and I gave the women the information I had. After a while of searching, we found their names. Their registered names were different than the names Danillo gave me. HE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE THEIR NAMES CORRECT. I got the papers and then headed over to the school. Denadi is 8 years old and will be entering into the first grade. She starts on Monday! Nayeli went to school in another town with her extended family and passed the 2^nd grade so she will not be able to start until we get the transfer papers. Do you think Fanny will go do this? Absolutely not. Next week I will have to go myself to the school (2 ½ hours away) and get the transfer document and then show it to the director here to register Nayeli. She is 10, and otherwise will have to start over in 1^st grade.

I came home from the school and cried. Tears of joy. I was so happy. Papers! Their birth papers I had here in my hand! And that is exactly where they will stay. Here in my hands. What a blessing. Week after week and I finally got what I needed. I was fearful. I had my doubts. My biggest concern was if Danillo was going to leave. He had told me he was going to try and get into the states illegally. If that was the case, the kids would have to stay with Fanny. However, she works from 5 am – 5pm M – F. Her solution? To lock the kids in the house until when she got home. To literally lock the 4 children in the house until she returned from work. And that’s hoping she didn’t come home later than that, drunk. Or spend her money on herself. Last week, she spent her weeks payment on perfume. While her kids did not have food for dinner. Danillo, for now, is going to stay. I saw him working the other day and I am so grateful for that. Please keep this broken family in your prayers.