On Tuesday this sad lady came to talk to Beth. I walked in a few minutes after the pregnancy test was given. I could tell there was stress in the room.
A test confirmed that Natasha is pregnant.
Like any woman who finds herself pregnant and not wanting to be, Natasha was incredibly emotional and upset. She cried hard and said she needed to leave immediately to go to the hospital to "take care of it".
Beth calmed her down a bit and tried to talk to her about her initial fears. Natasha said that if the people she lives with find out she is pregnant again, they will kick her out. She said they told her that and she cannot let them find out or she and her children will be homeless.
We asked a lot of questions and learned that Natasha does not necessarily want to abort the baby but she feels trapped and fears losing her house. She is not ready to decide if she will parent the baby but she was willing to hear us out on the choices available.
I spoke with her a bit about my own experience and understanding unplanned/crisis pregnancy and the deep fear and shame that comes with that. She listened intently but in the end she said, "It is not the same". I could not disagree. It is not the same. I had dozens more options and way more support. It is not the same. I told her she was right, but that deciding quickly was not necessary and that time was on her side. I encouraged her to think about things for a week or two.
Natasha is undecided. If she could find a new place to live she might have more options. She cannot come to Thursday class yet because if people in the room on Thursday know the folks she lives with they will tell her housemates that she is pregnant and then she'll be kicked out. She stopped in today but did not stay for the class for that reason.
This situation is heartbreaking, not unlike many you've probably read countless times as you cruise Haiti blogs. I know that God prompts us to respond to different needs at different times. Some needs spur me to action, others do not.
If there are any of you out there that feel a prompting to enter into this situation, please write me. We are attempting to raise rent money to move Natasha to a new location and some support $ for the next 18 months. We will be asking her to participate in literacy classes in exchange for this assistance.
She'll be coming back to speak with us soon to see what we're able to offer her. At this point no promises have been made.
tl7inhaiti@yahoo.com *Edit - Five families have indicated an interest in helping Natasha, we might have this covered now.*