Good Christians

My neighbors, who are missionaries from the Philippines and also teachers at my school, play Christian music really, really loudly every day. It's playing right now. I don't have real windows in my house (they're more like holes in the wall), so I also get the pleasure of listening to their music in the afternoons. As a side note, I also get the pleasure of hearing the revving of their motorcycle every single morning and the barking of their crazy dog at all hours of the day and night. Anyway though, today, I was horrified (but unfortunately not surprised) to realize that their music was covering up another sound- the sound of parents yelling and a child screaming.

I have wanted to blog about this for a while, but I haven't. It's a very sensitive subject, and I don't want to take this topic out of cultural context. In Honduras, parents spank their children. It's a cultural norm. Please don't get me wrong. I hate spanking, and the fact that it's a cultural norm doesn't make it okay. It's tragic. But it is the reality of life here.

There are varying degrees of spanking. In the United States, whipping a child with a belt is unheard of. It's child abuse. Here, it's common. This has been the thing I have struggled with the most this year. I have students who get severely hit if they earn a bad grade on a test. I have others who are severely hit when they get sent to the office for discipline reasons. I have spoken to the principal about it, but while he is understanding of my concerns and always voices the intention to help, he never actually steps in and does anything. So I am left in the position of trying to do everything in my power to not cause my students to be beaten by their parents.

My Filipino neighbors beat their four-year-old son. I have heard them yelling, him crying, and the sound of beating. It has gone on for varying lengths, anywhere from five to fifteen minutes. If I were in the states, I would call the police. Here, I'm left lingering outside their house, pretending to be on the phone and speaking really loudly, in the hopes that they might see me and stop. I tried to stop them once. I actually walked out of my house and stood in front of theirs, only to find myself paralyzed and unable to yell their names. What would I say if they came out? What if they punished their son even more severely? I have never felt so helpless in my life.

I have talked to the principal about it, but nothing has happened. It's unbelievably difficult for me. I don't know how to listen to a child be beaten without stopping it, but I also don't know how to approach my neighbors and colleagues about the fact that I think they're abusing their child. They won't listen to me, and they'll probably take it out on their son.

A couple of minutes ago, the Christian music stopped, and so did the sounds coming out of that little blue house. I'm left with a heavy heart and the smell of hypocrisy lingers in the air.