The Military Use Of Children
Our topic at our last “Will You Drink From This Cup?” program was pain and suffering. Our guest presenters were Trindad and Terry Shaughnessy. Terry is a City House spiritual companion volunteer and has developed a long term relationship with Trinidad, an immigrant from the Caribbean island of Trinidad, that found himself homeless in the streets of St Paul. (See City House newsletter article written by Terry, “Reflections on a day with homelessness” about his day on the streets of St Paul with Trinidad.)
The use of childern as soldiers is a human rights violation in various parts of the world. Apparently, that is also true in the history of the nation of Trinidad.
Trinidad (the person presenting at our session) talked about becoming a soldier at age 12. His parents were murdered when he was 17. For his entire adult life, he has had flashbacks of his earlier life as a child soldier. At one point, the flashbacks were so severe that he could not sleep for 30 days. Eventually, the father of a friend brought him to the United States.
He wound up sleeping on the floor of the Dorothy Day homeless shelter in St Paul for 7 months. “I would sleep for only 2 hours a night, while I was there. I would get up and clean up the park and the streets as a way to deal with my anger and pain about where I was in life.”
“When I was young, hatred kept me alive, but not now. Now I am a soldier of kindness, happiness, and humor. I am a survivor. I learned that I could survive any situation.” Today, Trinidad is known on the streets of St Paul as an ambassador that people trust. His trademark is humor and he likes to use it to defuse even the most difficult situations and the meanest people he encounters. ”You dropped something mam,” he says to one of the learners in our class, as he points at the floor. As the woman looks down he says, ”your smile.” I’ve heard him use this one so often, it has lost its charm on me. But, it seems to work on this woman.
Terry, our City House volunteer, talked about what he has learned from Trinidad. Trinidad has taught him about the importance of the use of humor and how to put people at ease. When asked by a learner about the biggest obstacle he had to overcome in his relationship with Trinidad, he says, “fear.”
Terry and Trinidad make it clear to each other in front us that they have a deep appreciation and even love for each other. They both acknowledged the size of the other’s heart.
What a blessed evening.
