From UNOH: Helpless in the midst of possibilities
Today was the final straw for me. Little Goff (5 years) has come to school covered in red marks and welts after being beaten mercilessly with a coat hanger by his drunk grandfather. Last week he had stitches in the top of his head after the grandfather had smashed a ceramic plate on his head. All of this happens less than 5 meters from my house. This poor little boy is beaten- often for no reason, while his grandmother and various other adults sit around the house, grateful that he is not beating them instead. We constantly struggle with how to intervene when, in the slum, it is considered a sin to interfere within someone else’s family. In the past we have intervened with this family but the outcome only seems to make things worse and we are left unable to help the child any further.
We are not neutral as we standby. We too commit sin in these cases.
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. — Desmound Tutu
When we see an elephant step on a mouse’s tail and do nothing – we are taking the side of the elephant.
Today this stops for me- culturally appropriate or not, we have to act. ...
Anji Barker, UNOH Thailand
