-
Leela Maya.jpg
A few days back I had visited the Detention Center as usual on a Wednesday. I walked past the guards through the long narrow corridor where the 4 women’s cells are located. The Adlieh prison (correctly speaking Detention Center) is built under an elevated freeway and is approximately the length of a football field. There are no windows to let in fresh air or sunshine and the air is circulated through giant exhaust fans, making constant whirling sounds. Living under those conditions can be depressing and can drive a sane person crazy. As I got closer to the one of the women’s cells, I heard a commotion and a young girl screaming and shouting. That was the first time I met Leela Maya. She was from Nepal and around 22 years old and only daughter. Her father died and her mother is living with her two younger brothers in Katmandu.
Journey from Anger & Despair: I could clearly see Lela’s eyes red and swollen from crying, angry at her cell mates and angry at the CARITAS(Catholic Relief Agency, under whose auspices I and my team minister in the prison) volunteers. I tried to calm her and asked her to tell me her story. The words tumbled out of her mouth for the next half hour. It was a story I heard so often: her employees were cruel to her, constantly demanding more work with no weekends off, withholding food, and treated cruelly. Even children in the household, egged on by parents, treated her the same!
Unable to take it anymore, one day Leela retaliated and slapped her employee. I felt like saying ‘good for you!’ But it resulted in her employers taking her back to the Employment Agency & returning her. In Lebanon this amounts to breaking the contract. Leela has no legal course to receive justice for her suffering. On the other hand, breaking a contract is a crime, punishable by landing in prison, and eventual deportation. Under the present legal system, with no labor laws and protection, she would have little recourse for justice and this is the greatest unsolved challenge of this nation.
Journey towards Peace & Resolution: Leela gradually started attending our Bible studies in the cells. She enjoyed singing. We started sharing the Good News of Jesus; teaching her how speak to Jesus, how to lay her burdens at the feet of Jesus. Leela gradually began changing. We talked about life skills and how to navigate through difficulties, especially in the Arab culture. One Wednesday I could not go to minister at the Prison as I had a severe case of Allergies. I got a surprise call that day from Leela! I asked her how she was able to phone me. She told me, she was called by the CARITAS staff to come into their office to sign some travel documents. She saw the telephone next to the office and used a telephone card to make a quick call!
But I was really touched by what she told me, she said, “I know you are sick because of us. We wear you down by our stories and needs! Please don’t cry for us sister. We are o.k. and God will help us. You just get well soon!”
Sarah Chetti
Beirut, Lebanon
May 1st 2010
Journey from Anger & Despair: I could clearly see Lela’s eyes red and swollen from crying, angry at her cell mates and angry at the CARITAS(Catholic Relief Agency, under whose auspices I and my team minister in the prison) volunteers. I tried to calm her and asked her to tell me her story. The words tumbled out of her mouth for the next half hour. It was a story I heard so often: her employees were cruel to her, constantly demanding more work with no weekends off, withholding food, and treated cruelly. Even children in the household, egged on by parents, treated her the same!
Unable to take it anymore, one day Leela retaliated and slapped her employee. I felt like saying ‘good for you!’ But it resulted in her employers taking her back to the Employment Agency & returning her. In Lebanon this amounts to breaking the contract. Leela has no legal course to receive justice for her suffering. On the other hand, breaking a contract is a crime, punishable by landing in prison, and eventual deportation. Under the present legal system, with no labor laws and protection, she would have little recourse for justice and this is the greatest unsolved challenge of this nation.
Journey towards Peace & Resolution: Leela gradually started attending our Bible studies in the cells. She enjoyed singing. We started sharing the Good News of Jesus; teaching her how speak to Jesus, how to lay her burdens at the feet of Jesus. Leela gradually began changing. We talked about life skills and how to navigate through difficulties, especially in the Arab culture. One Wednesday I could not go to minister at the Prison as I had a severe case of Allergies. I got a surprise call that day from Leela! I asked her how she was able to phone me. She told me, she was called by the CARITAS staff to come into their office to sign some travel documents. She saw the telephone next to the office and used a telephone card to make a quick call!
But I was really touched by what she told me, she said, “I know you are sick because of us. We wear you down by our stories and needs! Please don’t cry for us sister. We are o.k. and God will help us. You just get well soon!”
Sarah Chetti
Beirut, Lebanon
May 1st 2010