Today I would like to take the opportunity to post a thank you that is long overdue. When I arrived back to the states, after the formation program and travelling throughout the northeast to visit my friends, I settled back in to Kansas to spend some time with my family, and it was here during a quest for informational interviews on how to open a domestic violence shelter in Cochabamba, Bolivia that I met Angie Rooker. Angie shared her knowledge openly and freely with me, from her own experiences in working with and running a nonprofit, to providing connections for most of the domestic violence and sexual assault professionals that I met in Wichita. It was through her contact that I had the honor of meeting Perla Rodriguez. As I looked back over my notes from my meeting with Perla, I noticed that although they paint her in a positive light, they do not capture the heart of who she is and who she was as a human being. In my notes, I have written that Perla was really open and that she offered to provide additional information, including a coloring book in Spanish and information on the ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences Study), which proved to be extremely helpful leads and I am blessed for meeting with Perla and her offering this information. However, this goes far from explaining who she was and what kind of support that she really offered me. Perla was the first person whose native language was Spanish with whom I shared the name for my domestic violence shelter, On Eagles Wings, in Spanish (Alitas de Águilas), and she gave me positive feedback at a time when I needed it most. She also shared information about which therapies she would suggest as the most useful, including arts and crafts and yoga, and I am starting a yoga instructor program in March with the goal of teaching yoga to trauma victims. It is amazing how people shape your life from a chance encounter, and in Perla I have a lot to be thankful for. Even though I only met her once, and we chatted for less than two hours, I got a real sense of who she was from our brief encounter. Perla was a person of integrity with a passion for what she did, sharing with me that she was not a former victim of violence but that her love for working with the populations that she did in WASAC (Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center) spread directly from her love of the community and the impact that she saw that she made when she had that rare youth share with her how her presentation had changed their life. As we discussed, this gives you the motivation to go on when there are so many who remain silent, knowing that there are many more lives that are being touched and only a few are comfortable with reaching out to say how much. As it has become evident in the past several days, Perla touched the lives of countless individuals in the Wichita area, and that impact rippled into the lives of their families who were secondary victims of the abuse. When we discussed the sometimes challenging dynamics of abuse in a family, Perla was compassionate in her perspective of everyone involved, sharing the knowledge that everyone's experiences shape who they are and there is always a root cause for a behavior. As the days go on and Perla's death is investigated, I hope that we can focus on and celebrate Perla's life instead. I know that if my experience was so brief and so enriching at the same time, that those who knew Perla well will be a testimony to the wonderful person that she was and the beautiful gift that she gave her community by being a part of it.
1 Comment
Sondra Doll
12/1/2017 06:20:07 pm
Valerie, from your description, I am sure that Perla was indeed a very special, loving person that touched many lives and my prayers are for her family and friends that knew and loved her so much.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorValerie Ellis, who is in alignment with the Black Lives Matter Movement and everyone whose life is impacted, now or before, by times of social injustice. Archives
July 2022
Categories
All
|