Amanda - House 7
Amanda was born April 20, 1995. She comes to us with another 5 brothers and sisters. She is the oldest. In their case both parents were in jail. The father, a drug addict, escaped and had tried to live off of relatives but stole from them so is currently in hiding. He has shown no interest in the children. He is also accused of sexually abusing 4 of the 6 children. The mother has had visiting rights but shows no affection and has nothing to talk about when they visit her at the jail. These visits rarely last more than 20 minutes with everyone getting agitated and either crying or fighting. Both sides have shown no more interest in these visits, so they have been discontinued. The extended family has been visited but there are no places for these children and they are generally unwelcome among the relatives.
All the children were placed together in a Christian half way house in Porto Alegre. They are now at Chain of Love because the courts want them to stay together in a family setting.
All the children suffer from low self esteem, attention deficit, need psychological and in some cases neurological attention, as well as help in bringing their formal education up to speed. The real need that they have and that they show a desire for, is to have a real mother and father figure in their lives.
Amanda is sensitive and also is looked up to by her brothers and sisters. She will be able to help them in their adaptation to house number 7 where Marco and Fabiane are house parents. She is very sensible as well, quite talented, draws very well and does not like to make mistakes. In other words she is a perfectionist. She is very dear. She also knows what she wants – she is very mature for her age. She also likes to wear skirts, likes to eat spaghetti, but does not like pumpkin or coffee and milk together. Amanda is presently in Grade 3.
2009 Update: Amanda is very much enjoying the Craft Course that she is taking at the Chain of Love. She is getting quite skilled at sewing little flowers. At school she is finding all subjects challenging, especially Math. She also finds it difficult to get along with some of the people in her house. Please pray for her biological family and good health for her.
Birthday: April 20, 1995
Photo: Jul 2010
Sisters: Ellen, Cintia de Souza
Brothers: Rafael, Vitor, Gabriel