Saving the world's children, one at a time

News reports from various parts of the world—Latin America, India, Pakistan, Africa, Southeast Asia—speak of the exploitation of children. The numbers of children who are homeless or neglected seem staggering and beyond our ability to help. In Venezuels, however, a group of people decided to challenge the assumption that nothing could be done, and the result is Asociation Ayuda a Un Nino, the Association for Helping a Child. Patricia Leuschner, an attorney who lives in Venezuela, recently spoke with Rosalie E. Dunbar about her work with this institution.

The Association for Helping a Child is made up of a group of women from all over the world who now live in Venezuela. We started by establishing one house for children who are living in the streets. Now we have six houses. The need for this kind of housing is very big in this country, and the children respond very fast to the love and the care they get here.

We work in the barrios, or slums, and try to talk with the people. Our hope is that the children who are living with us can re-integrate into their social surroundings, if that's possible.

How did you get involved with the association?

I studied law in Barcelona, Spain, but I couldn't work in that field here in Venezuela. So I wanted to do something that would be helpful to others. I have been with the association for about six years. Now I have two adopted children of my own, who came from these very difficult social backgrounds.

About how many children are being taken care of in the house that you were responsible for?

Twenty-five.

Do you know who their families are?

Sometimes. Sometimes the children are just living on the streets and don't know about their families—if they're even alive or not. Sometimes we can the unite the familes, but Sometimes that's impossible.

What helps you in your work with the children?

Prayer is very important. In the first place, I need to protect myself from being overwhelmed by all the things I have seen in these places. Prayer gives me the right view of the situation. Also, I work hard to see that the care the children receive is not just a result of my work, but that God gives them all that they need.

That perspective has opened doors for us to have all the things we need.

You pray so that you won't despair over the awfulness of their conditions?

That's right. I don't want to accept that someone could be in such a terrible situation that God couldn't help, or that the children of God can lack something and not have a home, or love, or happiness. To feel so sad about them and about their situation only makes it worse for them.

Did you have any trouble with the government in terms of taking care of the children? Was there ever any kind of legal issue in connection with this work?

No, because we have a different approach from that of the governmental institutions. We started with an open house. That means the children can come in and go out whenever they want. This made us very successful, because in this country there are many houses that take the children and make them stay there, like a prison. And that's not good, because the children don't have an incentive to change their lives or their thoughts.

Then there are the ones who use drugs. When children have drug problems, we go with them to other associations that are more focused on that particular type of situation.

With other conditions, the children respond to our love and trust. When you trust them, they start to trust you, and they realize that they haven't had a choice in their lives. That they were doing such things because they didn't have enough love to be caring for themselves and to have a different life.

Looking at it from your standpoint as a lawyer, what do you see?

I like to think like God's lawyer—a lawyer who turns to the laws of God, you know? The situations with these children seem to be like a lot of laws that are not good. And it's right to break these unjust "laws." They are not really laws, because they're not coming from God. The children of God are guided by spiritual laws, which give them everything they need. These laws help the children to be honest, to do right and intelligent things, and to be healthy also.

In our work, we have contact with doctors and psychologists. And many times they say things that seem to be laws of sadness. For example, one psychologist said to me about a child who was four years old at the time, "Well, this child will be a killer or he will kill himself."

I was shocked. I thought, that cannot be a law. It's imposible that one human being—a child of four years old—cannot have other choices. I prayed to understand that the good laws of God are the only things that are guiding these children.

This particular child has made much progress, and he's now ten or so. He's living in a house and he is really great.

Do you see other children making progress like this one?

Yes. They respond very fast to the love they get. They change. They want to forget everything and to start another kind of life. One of the little children I met in my work has become my child now. He's five. He was two and a half when he came to me. He came from a terrible situation of abandonment and malnutrition. He was very ill, and he needed someone to take care of him. I said, "OK, I will take care of him for a while."

But he started giving a lot of love to us, and we fell in love with him. So he has remained with us. He's a brilliant boy. He's speaking English better than I am because he's going to the International School here in Valencia. And he is very creative and is lovely with his sister (she is one years old). He has a lot of love and intelligence, and ... well, I'm not very objective if I talk of them!

There are homeless children all over the world. What is it that gives you hope when you look at the size of the problem?

Well, you know, there is a story in Venezuela. One day the sea was very furious and brought thousands of starfish to the shore.

An old man started to pick up one starfish after another and put them back into the sea. But a young man said, "Look, there are thousands. You can't save all of them. So why are you trying to do something?"

The old man had one starfish in his hand, and said, "Look. I cannot save all of them, but this one I will save." And he threw it into the sea.

I think it's a very good idea to just concentrate on helping one human being. The problem is very big, but there are many people who are willing to help and to give love to others.

Earlier you spoke a lot about helping children realize that they have choices. What more can you say about that?

This spiritual point of view—seeing that these are children of God—gives you the hope that the opportunities are infinite. There is a place in Science and Health that says, "God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis" (p. 258 ).

This concept of an unlimited life is what I want for all of these children.