Submitted by Donna Harris – When I was 10 years old, my father took my three brothers (ages three years old and two were three months old) and my three sisters (ages eight and two were four years old) and myself away in the night from my mother.  In the course of the next two weeks, my eight year old sister and I were placed with an aunt (his sister) and uncle in a distant town.

 

 

They brought us to see our brothers and sisters at another aunt’s home the following week.  On the next week we traveled to visit with my brothers and sisters again, but, when we arrived one of her son’s hurried to the car and asked if the children would stay in car and my aunt and uncle come inside only. A short while passed, then her other son asked for only me to come inside.

Inside my aunt’s home were no noises of children, only sad, very quiet voices of my grandmother, father, and aunts and uncle.  Without telling me of what happened to my brothers and sisters, the aunt who lived there asked me to sort out clothes in big duffel bags.  Inside were all our clothes!  As I sat on the floor to do as told, the aunt said my brothers and sisters were gone to an orphanage and were not coming back…. I started to cry as I told them who each piece of clothing belonged.   My heart was broken, it became very hard to speak.   The aunt I had been staying with became extremely upset, told me to get up off the floor, told everyone how cruel they were, and said “Let’s leave and I won’t be back!”   I cried all the way back to their home, as I tried to explain to my eight year old sister we may not see mom or our sisters and brothers again!   

Today, I am reminded of this story so many times as I watch the situation at the border.  I have heard many speak of the effects on the children.  I was blessed to reunite with my sisters after 14 years, and my brothers after 27 years.  Many issues had risen through those years.  My sister and my personalities changed to withdrawn, sadness overtook us often, and moments of pure anger were to often. A few days later, I tried to kill myself by sitting on a concrete porch without a coat for over an hour in the mid of winter. I had never been so cold, but, felt comforted somehow!  Just after I married at 17, I tried again to kill myself by taking a whole bottle of 100 penicillin tablets, the only drug I had.  My sister and I quickly withdrew from everyone.  I lost the sense of being a child, of being happy, trust in others, and had a strong sense of fear for family and my own children.  As a wife and mother, it was hard to become attached to my husband and my children.  No one could understand what I felt.

After my family came together we noticed several common ways between us.  Only one of us swims, one has many friends, but, the rest don’t have real friends, we are distant from each other,  we are all very stubborn, fairly smart, good workers-with respect for supervisors to the point of them taking advantage of us, all but two of us have been very healthy all their lives and none have ever been arrested. We have all made bad decisions on so many things.  The blessed thing, even we were raised in different churches, we all now have true relationships with God, with very unique works.  

The reason for this testimony, to say lives will be changed for all these children, some effects coming out and seeable, but many will be mental changes that seem normal to the child and not to others.  I now enter into my 64th year, I still struggle with personal insecurities, loneness-with a wonderful family around me, with to many thoughts of the past!  I am daily working mentally to settle the past, moving forward one step at a time.  

God bless you all!