When she decided to participate in a service trip to Central America during her junior summer, Annabel Raebeck '04 could never have imagined she would become the parent of five foster children.
It was while working at a family care center in Honduras that she and fellow Dartmouth student Katie Harrison '04 took it upon themselves to adopt five neglected Honduran children, whom they cared for until May 2005 after graduating from the College.
According to Raebeck, Harrison learned of the opportunity through the Dartmouth chapter of the Navigators Christian group, which sends Dartmouth students to serve at a family care center in Flor del Campo, a slum on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. While participating in the program, Harrison heard of the opportunity to care for five children who had been badly abused, and she and Raebeck agreed to tackle the challenge.
"When the kids came to us, they had been completely neglected and abused," Raebeck said. "At first they thought they were coming to paradise, but then they realized we wouldn't let them get away with anything."
Raebeck assumed the role of guardian for the children, ages six through 12, while living in a small local apartment. An average day for Raebeck and Harrison consisted of preparing the children for school, looking after the apartment, teaching English and French to local children and helping their own children complete homework assignments before putting them to bed. Despite the defined schedule of daily activities, Raebeck said their lives were anything but ordinary.
"I'll have to say there's no such thing as a normal day; there are always surprises," she said.
The rough neighborhood in which the pair lived proved to be quite different from what they had experienced in the United States. Raebeck said she found the circumstances frustrating, as she was not used to living near such crime and poverty, and she spoke little Spanish prior to her arrival.
Raebeck said she would attempt to discipline the kids in broken Spanish, sometimes without avail. She also said that alcoholism and drugs were a common problem within Flor del Campo. Still, Raebeck maintained that "the greatest problem in our neighborhood is hopelessness." A devout Christian, Raebeck said she viewed her faith as an alternative to the destructiveness of drugs and alcohol.
"So many times I wanted to leave here, and it was only out of the strength of God that I have persevered," she said.
While she received much support, Raebeck said her family and friends at first urged her not to enter into the dangerous conditions.
"I've had people say 'please don't get hurt, please come home if anything bad happens,'" Raebeck said.
Raebeck and Harrison left the children in the care of other volunteers upon leaving Honduras in May. Raebeck, however, recently returned to Flor del Campo to visit the children, and will remain in Honduras through the end of July.
Upon her return, Raebeck noted that the kids now smile frequently, pray together and express love for others.
"The most amazing thing is how much they've changed, and I don't really take the credit for that," Raebeck said.
With much improved Spanish and firsthand experience of the tools necessary to care for abused children, Raebeck plans to use her knowledge in her graduate studies on child and maternity health at Boston University, where she will study this fall.
Upon reflecting on the experience, Raebeck said she believes Dartmouth students have a responsibility to use the opportunities they have been given to serve others.
"I think this world is a lot bigger than we can imagine at Dartmouth, and there are so many people who are hurting and we have been given so much," she said.
