Ana Paula is a little person. In the past, I would have said she suffers from dwarfism. It would be a lie. She is perfectly content with who she is. However, she does suffer from a series of unjust circumstances.

She is born into homelessness.

We have known her since she was a child. Back then, she wasn’t quite sure about us. It is only natural. A healthy child should be wary of strangers especially without the presence of her mother. Unfortunately, she was always without her mother which made her, understandably, constantly insecure. Like most children, she craved adult companionship but at the same time she was a little unsure how to receive us.

We don’t know much about her mother except that she was homeless. She seemed a little simplistic on her outlook. We don’t believe that there is anything organically wrong with her. She is most likely someone who was never given any opportunities. She did her best despite being homeless. She made some choices which resulted in having more children. All her men have abandoned her. Being homeless, as we can imagine, is dangerous for anyone but even worse for a solitary woman. Most of our girls who were once homeless now live in rented rooms because the streets are merciless, especially towards women. Those who can’t afford to rent a room find a partner to protect them. Ana Paula has five siblings and Vinicius is her older brother. We cannot talk about Ana Paula without mentioning Vinicius. They are a package deal.

We met them in 2013 when she was about 8 and Vinicius was about 9 or 10. They were tiny little kids partly due to malnourishment. One thing I always remember about them is that they never smiled. Nonetheless, Vinicius would always seek me out to play games with him. He never demonstrated any emotion whenever he interacted with me. He hardly said goodby nor expressed anything like gratitude. It wasn’t that he was unfriendly or ungrateful. He was just a sad young child; too sad to even recognize good things.

I remember one day when we were with the homeless youth, we heard someone crying in a desperate manner. We looked around to find the source and saw Ana Paula sitting next to her brother, bawling like a baby. It was an heart breaking scene. Obviously something had deeply offended her. We thought about approaching her and then changed our mind. Vinicius was sitting next to her. Everyone else, including ourselves, stood at a distance, watching helplessly this tragic scene. We knew something extremely sad and personal had happened but only Vinicius knew his sister well enough to bring any sort of comfort to her.

Over the years, our contact with the siblings fluctuated. Some times we would see them and other times they would disappear for a long period. Whenever Vinicius was around, he would make it a point to come up and shake our hands albeit without much emotion. He always wore a serious and intense face. Ana Paula was a little shy and sometimes she waved at us but she was always a little uncertain.

Vinicius, unfortunately, started stealing things. Ana Paula started hanging out with dubious characters. Their mother was horrified that Vinicius was keeping company with such unsavory characters. However, Vinicius wanted to be a part of something. He was trying to find his own way in the world. Unfortunately, his options were limited. A gang of thieves was the most appealing to a teenage boy. Once he stole something from a wrong person. In the streets, the wrong person is one who was connected with the local gang. Vinicius was viciously attacked and ended up in the hospital. He nearly died from the assault. Unfortunately, this did not hinder him from returning to crime. It seemed like things were going from bad to worse. Vinicius eventually got caught and ended up in the juvenile detention center. Ana Paula also ended in the detention center too for selling drugs. We did not see the siblings for months.

One day, as we were on my way to meet with our young people, we heard a voice call out my name. I turned around and it was Vinicius. His face looked older. He came up to me and shook my hands. He told me that he had just gotten out of the detention center. His face was still emotionless. For some reason, he wanted to say hi to us. He said that we were the first people to see him after he was released. The conversation did not go further than this. It is funny that we hardly talked to him over the years even though we have known him since he was a little child. He was never one for conversations. Ana Paula was the same.

On another occasion, shortly after both siblings got out of the detention center, Vinicius and Ana Paula approached me and asked if they could play a game. I was by myself. Mary was doing art with the other young people. I took our deck of cards and we played together. They both smiled for the first time. They asked lots of questions about us. It was the first time they expressed any curiosity about us.

Over the next few years, they approached us a little bit more. They even started smiling a little bit. Vinicius still looked a little unhappy but Ana Paula was beginning to open up more. Then Vinicius turned 18 and was caught for stealing again. This time he went to prison. He stayed there for some time but was released due to lack of evidence. For some reason, this time he decided that he had enough. He started hanging out more with the group who spends the most time with us.

This group of young people have matured over the years. All of them, perhaps at one point, were tempted to steal or forced to go along with some petty crimes. Today, they have zero tolerance for any one who steals. They have even started voicing out against violence which is usually considered a natural part of life in the streets. They have also become more Christ conscious. We believe that this is natural progression. Before, they had to dehumanize people in order to steal from them. Once they stopped stealing, they were released the bondage of dehumanizing a fellow human being. This is result of their gradual realization of God’s presence in their lives. They began to see God’s face in the people who reach out to them. This group talks about their faith more frequently with us which was previously not a common subject. Maybe, in the past, they thought that such talk was not permitted. However, now they realize the truth of St. Paul’s words,

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

God’s love conquered their hearts. This Love gives them the courage to love too. They are not afraid to share their love with those who join our little group. The most beautiful thing is the way they treat Ana Paula. Besides being a homeless little person which is rare, she is also one of the few girls in the streets. They treat her with much tenderness. Both siblings joined this group because this group gives them the freedom to be who they really are. I think this is the special thing God is doing in this group. His Spirit is moving in the lives of everyone in this group including us. We sense that we have the freedom to become who God wants us to be albeit we are all taking baby steps.

When we returned from our trip to the States this year, all the young people received us back warmly. However, when Vinicius saw us, he ran up to us and gave us the warmest and longest hug and Ana Paula did the same. They asked us questions about our trip. I think they must have thought that we were gone for good. They were truly happy to see us. It took us a long time to get this place; almost 13 years. The wait was worth it. Ever since that day, we have been receiving hugs from both siblings. I think Vinicius and Ana Paula remember that we played with them when they were little kids. In the world of homelessness, everything changes ever so quickly. Nothing is stable. In spite of this, they see us as a stable presence in their lives. We are grateful to God that He has given us this special role. Now, we can receive long warm and loving hugs from these once sad children.