-->The Lord is my
strength and my song; He has become my salvation. Psalm 118:14
Feeling invincible post-leap |
-->The Lord is my
strength and my song; He has become my salvation. Psalm 118:14
Feeling invincible post-leap |
As I've been sharing on this blog, Zambia
lacks a well-functioning juvenile justice system. Juveniles cannot
afford lawyers or access legal aid. In court, they are undefended, which
leads to absurd charges (trafficked children charged as traffickers)
and one-sided trials (12 year olds cross-examining police). Juveniles
committing petty crimes (stealing from a clothesline) end up in prison
for years waiting for court dates (teens waiting since 2012 for a judge
to sign their sentencing order). During these long detentions, juveniles
are held in adult prisons in inhumane conditions leaving them
vulnerable to physical and sexual violence with little or no access to
healthcare, education, or other social services.
For the past year I have been joined by community volunteers to
provide encouragement, activities, and basics such as food and clothing
to imprisoned juveniles (ages 8-19) in Zambia's capital city Lusaka and
other prisons around the country. While we have made a positive impact
in the lives of these boys, as an attorney in both the USA and Zambia, I
knew I could do more than just try to improve their imprisonment - I could help end it.
In August 2015, I and a few other local attorneys began looking at
some of the boys' cases. We did what we could during our lunch hours,
after work, and on the weekends, but it quickly became clear what that
what most of these cases needed was lots and lots of time to unravel
years of court delays.
In order to work for the freedom of these boys (and the few girls in
system), I made the leap of faith to quit my corporate job here in
Zambia in October 2015 to dedicate myself full time to juvenile legal
cases and welfare. In these few months of having just one person 100%
available, we have seen key partnerships built and 30+ boys are closer
to their freedom.
I could have waited to start this until I had a big grant from a
foreign government or had conducted a USA fundraising tour - in fact I
hope both are in my near future. But seeing the tragedies of these young
lives unfolding day after day, month after month, year after year, I
knew in my heart I needed to start right away instead of first waiting
to build my own security.
I am looking for people who also believe these young lives
are worth saving and are willing to invest in my work for their freedom.
I have been applying for grants and will be traveling to do fundraising
as soon as I have made sufficient headway. But for now I need help to
allow me to get through this start up phase (until mid-2016). For me to
be able to remain in Zambia during this crucial time I need to raise
$20,000. An additional $10,000 is needed for a suitable vehicle to
travel to remote prisons across Zambia, where we estimate up to 500
juveniles may be facing prolonged detention.
I made my decision to be "all in," trusting the Lord to use people
all around the world to support this work and am looking forward to
seeing a miracle first hand. Do you want to be a part of our efforts to rescue these boys that everyone else has forgotten about?
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty
and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me
in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked
after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me...Whatever you did
for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for
me." Matthew 25:35,36,40
To invest in my life and work in Zambia, please consider supporting my CrowdRise Fundraiser [https://www.crowdrise.com/legalservicesforimpr1/fundraiser/saralarios] or contact me to contribute directly (avoiding crowd-funding admin fees).
If you have any additional questions about my work in Zambia, I would love to arrange a time to speak to you personally.
Court in a neighboring district |
Courtroom at the High Court |
It seems so much longer than one month ago that I woke up to a new adventure.
I’ve spent nearly seven years in Zambia, most of those years with an unexpected quiet pulling on my heart to get involved in prisons in Zambia. The how and when of this involvement had been elusive time and time again. Since my first visit to the juvenile cells in Kamwala Remand Prison for a legal briefing in March 2014 I could not shake the feeling that I had been tasked to do something about that look of hopelessness in the eyes of those teenagers. Then, months later, during my next visit to the juveniles in Kamwala Remand to make a simple blanket donation with friends, the 59 boys in custody gave us a challenge: Don’t just walk away and forget now that one good deed had been done. It was in that moment that the Undikumbukire Project was born.
In the local language Chinyanga, “Undikumbukire” means “Remember Me”. We chose this name for our project inspired by the boys’ plea to be remembered as well as the plea of Joseph in Genesis 40:14 when he pleads with his fellow inmates upon their release to remember him. As the word “Undikumbukire” is quite a mouthful for locals and expatriates alike, we often shorten it to “UP”.
In the year that followed that June visit, we kept true to the boys’ request and came for visits every three weeks, then every two weeks, until now volunteers visit every week. Our visits have been filled everything from sports to first aid to cooking to origami. More and more people were willing to give of their time and resources to give these boys a few hours relief from their grim daily existence.
A growing number of our weekend volunteers were lawyers. Though we kept ourselves busy chatting to the boys about football, bringing snacks, coaching them in volleyball, etc. we could not ignore the elephant in the room. We also had the skills that could help many of them be free of these cramped and miserable conditions. But how do you intervene in a overburdened and failing judicial system without the knowledge of the specific problems and procedures and without the relationships with the key authorities in the realm of juvenile law?
Momentum to expand the project from supportive visits to include legal interventions was building. Looking back I am amazed at the amount the few of us accomplished through early morning emails, rushed meetings with officials during our lunch breaks, and late evening group chats as we reviewed case documents. But there simply was not enough time available in the day to build the foundations required for such an important and detailed project.
And that is how my new adventure began. I made the decision to leave my day job of managing a corporate legal services company. I would then be able to devote my time to the investigations, networking, and groundwork our legal project would need to begin making an impact on the legal cases of the young men we have come to know and care about.
So on 1 October 2015 I woke up knowing that I finally had the freedom to pour my time and energy into helping these juveniles who had a strange grip on my heart. The past month has been a whirlwind of court observations, document requests, letters of introduction, guardian tracking, networking, and glowy stars. The creative mind I inherited never stops generating ideas and it takes all the time I have and more to put them into action. Though its only been one month, my earlier frustration has quickly given way to a determination that the many opportunities opening up will be seized on behalf of these juveniles.
I believe I and others can make an impact that will change the system and the lives of these boys forever. It’s monumental task to be sure, and one that will not be accomplished by our efforts alone. But with each joyful spike of a volleyball in the cramped cells and each relieved smile as a boy recognizes our presence at his trial, there is a joy that carries me forward on my new adventure.
Earlier this month, a friend of mine from back when I volunteered in a Russian orphanage, asked me to do a guest post for her blog Just One Of The Boys.
It turned out to be a great opportunity for me to recap my years here in Zambia and how things are going over there at the moment and lay open my heart. Check out my blog post for In Her Shoes.