Here are the unconnected, true story of Six Girls, whose relatives I know, which will help us ascend the heights of human aspiration and plumb the depths of human anguish.
Two girls … were born in Hong Kong to talented, loving parents who naturally wanted the best for their daughters and were in the lucky position to provide it. Thanks to their hard-working, farsighted and sensible Father and Mother, these girls lived in privilege and comfort, surrounded by the opportunities an advanced society can offer the few. Taking judicious advantage of the recent economic boom, their family moved to a better city, where the girls joined a holistic, ecological school that merges the best of education with the best of nature. By an unfathomable accident of birth – which seemingly randomly seals our destiny – a bright future lays ahead for these two girls, who lack no resources, support or blessing to achieve it.
Two girls … recently arrived in Hong Kong from Cambodia. The 10 year-old was sold by her mother to a Thai begging ring and when she wasn’t earning enough, the evil people that enslaved her, splashed her with acid to decrease her humanity and increase their dreadful earnings. When that failed too, the syndicate abandoned her on the roadside and she was deported. The 15 year-old was burned protecting her mother in a frenzied jealousy attack by her father, which left her with half a recognizable face and deeper emotional scars than her own burnt flesh. Thanks to the amazing effort of the charity “Angels for Orphans”, our Queen Mary Hospital arranged major facial reconstruction, including a new eye, new ear and plenty of loving care. In a sense, these two girls were the lucky ones: they had no mother, support or protection, yet Providence ended their suffering, bringing them to us so we might learn from their lives.
Two girls … were born twins in Somalia and their tearful uncle will never forget their ordeal. Their mother was a paralytic with enough dignity and courage to learn the trade of a butcher. She worked for decades in a market stall, scraping an even tougher living after her husband was killed during the 2006 Ethiopian war. As an outcast, the mother suffered continuous abuse: her stall was often kicked over, her meats stolen, her earnings pilfered. However, her twins were surely her pride and joy. One day her suffering was ended by an angry bullet shot between her eyes, while her teenage daughters screamed in horror. These two girls never got a break and this ungodly morning of fury wasn’t any different. With despicable rage, the heartless murderer terminated their wretched lives, right before their mother’s dying eyes. Much can be said about man’s savagery, but Aéschylus wrote it best 500 year before Christ: “Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon our broken hearts until, in our own despair and against our will … comes Wisdom through the awesome grace of God.”
