alone. She rarely even leaves the house any more. Normally the torture she receives isn’t as severe as Jane’s and many women endure it in silence all their lives.
“In Jane’s case, what broke the spell was her five year old daughter Susan. The previous night, she had committed the unforgivable crime of coming downstairs while her mother was in the shower to ask for a drink of water. Her father didn’t appreciate the interruption of his television watching. He picked her up and flung her across the room into a glass cabinet. Her back was badly cut, and our doctor later picked 15 slivers of glass out of it. Jane ran downstairs at the crash and her daughter watched as she was repeatedly punched in the face for “not teaching the brat to behave”. The next day she came to us.”
I paused for a moment. The retelling of this story always stirred up all the anger and disgust I had felt on that morning, and I didn’t want that to get in the way of communicating to these people how important the work we do is.
“What we had to work with was a woman whose spirit was even more broken than her body. Fixing the body was our first priority, though. I took her to hospital, accompanied by our GP. Her jaw was set, and her fingers rebroken and set properly. She didn’t even flinch as they did it.
“We found a space in a shelter for her and Susan rather than a house at first. I thought she needed the company and support of other women who could understand, at least in part, what she had been through. We had to sort out a new school for Susan so her father couldn’t try and snatch her. Next the centre paid for a dentist to rebuild her mouth and jaw. Then we started the much longer process of trying to help her rebuild the person who had been there.
“It took a long time. But now, over two years on, you would hardly recognise her. The external wounds have healed, and even the internal ones have scarred over a little. We’ve helped her through her divorce, and a successful prosecution of her husband. She and Susan live in a small house. She has her own business now, making craft items which she sells through a lot of local shops. Most important, their home is a place full of laughter and love, not fear and violence. Our doctor’s view is that the way the beatings had escalated she would probably have been dead in less than a year.
“We didn’t rebuild Jane’s life. She did that herself. She and Susan are truly remarkable women. What we could do was be there to help her start the process when she had nowhere else to turn. For Jane, and all the thousands of women like her, the Centre needs your support.”
I moved back, and let Katie take my place. As I turned, Ian Jacobs nodded approvingly at me. Katie began to speak in a calm and confident manner.
“Jack’s story has given you the main reason that you should support our work. There are hundreds of people who need the help the Centre provides. We have three counsellors, and I think I can speak for my colleagues when I say that none of us minds the long hours we work. But even so, we struggle to cope with all the need that there is. Very soon, without more support, we will have to go down to two or even just one of us. Being able to pay dentist or medical bills, or to help with accommodation costs will become impossible.
“I know most of you already support charities generously, and have many worthy causes begging you for help. I’m not trying to convince you that our need is worth more than starving children in Africa or orphans in former Eastern Europe. All I can do is promise you that every penny we get will go to help people like Jane rebuild their lives. People who live and work in your community. People who are your employees, your customers, your neighbours.
“They need our help. And we need yours. Please.”
As she stopped, every eye in the room was fixed on her. Part of that was undoubtedly her compelling beauty, but much was the impact of her words. If
“In Jane’s case, what broke the spell was her five year old daughter Susan. The previous night, she had committed the unforgivable crime of coming downstairs while her mother was in the shower to ask for a drink of water. Her father didn’t appreciate the interruption of his television watching. He picked her up and flung her across the room into a glass cabinet. Her back was badly cut, and our doctor later picked 15 slivers of glass out of it. Jane ran downstairs at the crash and her daughter watched as she was repeatedly punched in the face for “not teaching the brat to behave”. The next day she came to us.”
I paused for a moment. The retelling of this story always stirred up all the anger and disgust I had felt on that morning, and I didn’t want that to get in the way of communicating to these people how important the work we do is.
“What we had to work with was a woman whose spirit was even more broken than her body. Fixing the body was our first priority, though. I took her to hospital, accompanied by our GP. Her jaw was set, and her fingers rebroken and set properly. She didn’t even flinch as they did it.
“We found a space in a shelter for her and Susan rather than a house at first. I thought she needed the company and support of other women who could understand, at least in part, what she had been through. We had to sort out a new school for Susan so her father couldn’t try and snatch her. Next the centre paid for a dentist to rebuild her mouth and jaw. Then we started the much longer process of trying to help her rebuild the person who had been there.
“It took a long time. But now, over two years on, you would hardly recognise her. The external wounds have healed, and even the internal ones have scarred over a little. We’ve helped her through her divorce, and a successful prosecution of her husband. She and Susan live in a small house. She has her own business now, making craft items which she sells through a lot of local shops. Most important, their home is a place full of laughter and love, not fear and violence. Our doctor’s view is that the way the beatings had escalated she would probably have been dead in less than a year.
“We didn’t rebuild Jane’s life. She did that herself. She and Susan are truly remarkable women. What we could do was be there to help her start the process when she had nowhere else to turn. For Jane, and all the thousands of women like her, the Centre needs your support.”
I moved back, and let Katie take my place. As I turned, Ian Jacobs nodded approvingly at me. Katie began to speak in a calm and confident manner.
“Jack’s story has given you the main reason that you should support our work. There are hundreds of people who need the help the Centre provides. We have three counsellors, and I think I can speak for my colleagues when I say that none of us minds the long hours we work. But even so, we struggle to cope with all the need that there is. Very soon, without more support, we will have to go down to two or even just one of us. Being able to pay dentist or medical bills, or to help with accommodation costs will become impossible.
“I know most of you already support charities generously, and have many worthy causes begging you for help. I’m not trying to convince you that our need is worth more than starving children in Africa or orphans in former Eastern Europe. All I can do is promise you that every penny we get will go to help people like Jane rebuild their lives. People who live and work in your community. People who are your employees, your customers, your neighbours.
“They need our help. And we need yours. Please.”
As she stopped, every eye in the room was fixed on her. Part of that was undoubtedly her compelling beauty, but much was the impact of her words. If
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