Marc and Stacy told me about the problems of abuse around here. It's so sad! Women and children are the victims and they are trapped. Their husbands and fathers threaten them so much that they are paralyzed with fear. They're so afraid for their lives that they don't run away and they don't tell the police. But it's understandable that they don't tell the police because the authorities are extremely corrupt and prisoners often don't stay in jail for long.
To give you an idea of just how corrupt the authorities are I'll tell you about an incident that took place in Betroky a few months before I arrived. Apparently there was a period of time (probably a couple of weeks) in which break-ins were happening every single night in Betroky. Nobody knew who was doing it or why it was happening, but finally one non-corrupt police officer got to the bottom of the problem. He found out that the guards within the jail not far from Betroky were letting prisoners escape each night to rob people and then the prisoners would go back to the jail and share whatever they got with the guards. Isn't that incredibly ridiculous?! That just gives you a picture of the corruption that takes place in Madagascar and all over Africa.
Anyways, apparently one of the pastor's wives here in Betroka wants to start a center or some kind of place of refuge for abused women and children. She would like to talk to Stacy about helping to get something started, but Stacy doesn't feel equipped to do something like that.
I think it'd be neat to do something of the sort- my heart is for women and children. In such a setting I'd be able to meet both physical and spiritual needs.
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