Chapter 14: New Girls, New Worries

Gradually it became time to look after the group of girls who were staying at Isabelle’s house. Their plight had touched me deeply. Separated from their parents and friends, they had been living in hell for almost twenty months, starving, sick, with no meaningful work or education. Worst of all for me, they had no one to talk to because they spoke different languages. Many of the girls in the first group had told me over and over again how much they had suffered from not being able to talk to anyone, just to gossip, as adolescents do. These ten girls had suffered the same fate, but for much longer, for almost two years. It had to be our most important task to give the girls enough language lessons so that they would finally have the opportunity to chat, to share their feelings with others, to express their emotions.

Unfortunately, I had not been able to bring the group of severely neglected girls with me. Luckily, I had placed them with Claudio’s grandmother, where they were well looked after, had a comfortable place to sleep and hopefully had been taught the basics of the English language.

At a meeting with Luisa and Ramona we decided to go ahead with the move as planned on Friday 17 May. We discussed for a long time whether I should do it alone with our Landcruiser. I would have no support, especially no translator, but I felt it was the only option. I hoped to be able to fit all the girls into my Toyota. If necessary, I could take Alonso’s bus or a taxi to San Huano. But the move to our home was urgent and long overdue. I had to do it myself, partly because they knew me and partly because I hoped they would trust me after their temporary rescue from the neglected home. So, we decided together to proceed in this way. Of course, I was afraid for my loved ones in the valley. I hoped that the risk of an attack that day was minimal. Nevertheless, I discussed the necessary measures with Ramona and Babette so that they would not be defenceless. I was sure I could rely on my ‘soldiers’.

The following days brought a lot of extra work in addition to the lessons. Ten rooms had to be prepared, the hall and terrace rearranged, cutlery and extra crockery brought in from the containers. Priya went through the discarded clothes our girls had outgrown and had the usable ones cleaned. We discussed how to teach the little ones. In the beginning we wanted to concentrate on English and maths. Ramona agreed with me that Claudio was no longer an option for us as a teacher after Heidy got pregnant.

To make it easier for the girls to settle in, I wanted to set up sponsorships, but Esther and Babette advised me to leave it to chance. Each of the young women, with the exception of our teachers Lenya and Mayari, should choose one of the needy children to sponsor. Perhaps friendships would develop.

To give the children a taste of what it is like to live with us, we planned to use them for at least three days starting on Monday to harvest the potatoes, which were now ripe in abundance. Before that, on the first day, the sponsors would always take their charges on a tour to see the beauty of our home and get them interested in our lives. We hoped that the girls would have a certain level of English; after all they had had about six weeks of lessons with Claudio. Nevertheless, we were prepared to practise from the start, as we had done with our thirteen students three years ago.

For Saturday, I asked Sula and Daja to prepare a big sports afternoon. The other teenagers wanted to prepare an impressive show for the evening. The new students were to sing and dance with us right from the start. It was very important for me to fully integrate the girls who came to us, but also to motivate them and, of course, to discipline them. Ramona just said that I shouldn’t overdo it with the new students. They needed more love than strict discipline.

The long-awaited day had finally arrived. I set off in the Landcruiser at sunrise, filled up a reserve canister in San Huano and drove towards Trujillo at slightly excessive speed. Unfortunately, not everything went smoothly. After a bend, I unfortunately collided with a mule cart. Luckily, the animal and the driver were unharmed, but a wooden wheel was badly damaged. Now I was missing an interpreter. I could hardly exchange a word with the farmer. He was upset and cursed like a donkey driver.

Finally, we moved the cart, which was no longer drivable, to the side; the man tied his animal to a tree and drove with me to his house on the 3N. Although he had been driving, he had swerved into my lane to avoid a deep hole. The place was unclear, and I was perhaps driving too fast. Actually, the accident was his fault. Nevertheless, I gave him four hundred SOL for a new wheel. He shook my hand, reconciled. Yes, the road was in very bad condition. As I continued my journey, I decided to have it repaired along the entire route. We had enough money, but we needed to be able to access the bank account, which I had not yet been able to do, or find a way to exchange the dollars that had been brought into the country illegally for the local currency.

Despite the mishap, I was at Isabelle’s, Claudio’s grandmother’s, before lunch. It was only now that the girls understood that I was taking them to a new place. Some of them didn’t seem to like it. They had grown to like Isabelle’s house. They packed their things with clear protests. I showed them our destination on my tablet. They recognised Lenya and Esther and, of course, Olivia. Soon they were clapping in time when the clip of a birthday party came on. Resistance seemed to have broken down. They were obviously looking forward to seeing the alpacas and our big house, our palazzo. But their English wasn’t very good. On the face of it, the lessons were having little effect.

Then came Claudio’s moment of truth. First, he was allowed to tell his grandmother that she could keep the money we had overpaid her, the washing machine and some of the linen. We packed twenty clean sheets and five new pillows into my car. The children were asked to put their toys, such as balls, badminton, and board games, in the Toyota. A little later they sat down for lunch at the big garden table.

I retreated to the back of the garden with Claudio. “How did it go, Claudio? Is everything OK?”

He smiled and praised himself until he froze in shock when I asked: “Have you fucked another girl besides Heidy?” I deliberately used the bad word to shock him. I succeeded. He was bright red, stammered helplessly and I saw anger in his eyes. He clenched his fists. The veins in his neck bulged with excitement.

“Please, Claudio, be honest. Heidy is almost two months pregnant. I need to know if another girl could be pregnant.”

He denied this and apologized for his misbehaviour. I had initially prevented a physical confrontation, but the fronts had hardened. We agreed that he could keep his overpaid wages. I would contact him at some point later when I was sure that none of the other girls were pregnant or had been sexually harassed by him.

I thanked Isabelle very much, hugged her several times and wished her all the best. Her assistant, Willka Adjani Águila, was happy to get the agreed payment. She could communicate with me in English. She was only 21, a beautiful and confident young woman. She was unemployed but she often volunteered at a centre for disadvantaged children in a suburb of Trujillo. There was no hope to find a job as a kindergarten teacher. Willka had wanted to be a teacher but had only been able to attend school for six years because the fees were too high for her family.

But from time to time, she would look uncertainly from me to Claudio and back again. Somehow, I had a premonition. Fortunately, I was able to communicate with her quite well. She shamefacedly confirmed Claudio’s repeated sexual assaults but said that the handsome student loved her and was ready to marry her. I immediately felt that these were just empty words she had heard from her seducer. When I asked Claudio about it, he turned around without saying a word and went into the house. Saying goodbye to his playmate Willka or his pupils was not important to him. He was an egoist, a self-absorbed narcissist.

Willka was allowed to get into the car with her few belongings. Now it was really tight. I bought a set of pregnancy tests in a pharmacy. The owner allowed Willka to take the test in the toilet. As I expected, it was positive. Willka cried and almost panicked. She made it clear to me that her family would disown her. Some of the girls in the car seemed to have a clue. They showed some sympathy. They were obviously very fond of Willka and had witnessed some of the attacks.

I thought for a moment about how we could help her. She gladly accepted my offer to work for the girls’ group in our valley. I was sure there was no alternative for her at the moment. We desperately needed a nice kindergarten teacher. So, we went to her parents’ house. It was in a completely dry area on a mountain slope in the blazing sun. While Willka talked to her mother, dirty children in mostly tattered clothes crowded around our car. They looked at the car and its occupants in amazement. My girls were obviously frightened, although I didn’t think there was any danger. I quickly threw the balls from the car to the boys and gave the badminton sets to two girls. Finally, we had enough space to get out. Luckily, it didn’t take long for Willka to join us with her mother and her three siblings. Her father was away somewhere working as a day labourer.

Back in the car, I asked Willka if she had given any of her wages to her mother. She shook her head. It was the first money she had ever earned. She wanted to spend it on her baby. I understood. Willka didn’t know that she didn’t need money in the valley. But I still had the feeling that sharing was difficult for many people in Peru. Life was hard. That’s why everyone had learned to take care of themselves first and foremost.

But I didn’t want her to say goodbye to her family like that. So, I went to the house. It was empty, but the sweltering heat in the one room almost took my breath away. In one corner there was a barrel set in the floor with two goats drinking from it. It was probably the family’s water supply. The mother was sitting with her children in the shade at the back of the house. They were eating some raw vegetables, which was probably their lunch. I gave the mother a thousand SOL for her family. She looked at me in disbelief and finally accepted the money gratefully. She was visibly thankful and wanted to kneel down in front of me, but I didn’t let her. Now she waved to her daughter and perhaps to me as we left.

I wanted to get home quickly, but the sight of a mini-market and vegetable stall on the main road made me stop. Every time I saw the poverty of the people and thought of our wealth, I got the helper syndrome. It was almost embarrassing in front of these people. We couldn’t help everyone, but we could help some.

Willka understood my request, was just astonished, but immediately helped me buy cheap food and two packs of bottled water for her family. We also took a large glass jar of lollipops for the local children. Luckily, I was able to pay with my credit card as I had very little Peruvian cash left. I stopped at a bank and was able to change 5,000 dollars and withdraw 1,000 SOL each with the three credit cards.

After less than a quarter of an hour, we pulled up to Willka’s parents’ house and handed over the food and water. Three of my new girls had dared to hand out the sweets. Two boys of about ten grabbed all of Janka’s lollipops and ran away, but they didn’t get far. Like lightning, the Slovak girl ran after them, grabbed them, and took back what they had stolen.

Willka scolded the boys. They wouldn’t get any sweets as punishment. Janka looked at me uncertainly, but she could tell from my nod that I liked what she had done. Her magic smile could sweeten the whole day.

Finally, we were on the main road 3N. First, I played some music, and then the girls had to sing. Everyone was a bit shy, but Willka started to sing beautifully. Soon one after the other was singing songs from their home country, but also rock music. The atmosphere got better and better. The journey to the petrol station flew by. Here we took a longer break. The girls could use the toilet. There was Inca Cola, the Peruvian drink with a strong lemon flavour. Everyone was allowed to take something to eat from the few displays. Almost everyone had chips, although Willka had recommended a Peruvian pastry. I really liked the sweet pastry. I let some of the girls try it. Soon, everyone had developed a taste for them, and I bought a few more packets. It was like a gift that I could pay for everything with a card at the petrol station.

I phoned from the mountain village to announce our arrival and asked for an eleventh bed to be prepared for the new arrivals. I wanted Willka to sleep with us in the Palazzo and have her examined by our doctor.

We hurried down the last steep descent into the valley. Luca and Diego were waiting at the barrier, waving excitedly. The gate to the Palazzo was decorated with balloons and flowers. With music playing loudly from the car radio, we drove at a walking pace to the entrance of the Palazzo. Sula and Babette, who had been keeping watch in the container warehouse, ran after us and then marched alongside the car. Everyone in the house except Zarina was standing on the steps, even Olivia and Carmen. Willka and the children got out uncertainly. Then Ramona’s saxophone and Lenya’s guitar began to play. My young women sang the song of the Andes, our current anthem.

Overwhelmed, I stood with the new arrivals in a semicircle in front of the stairs. Some of the new girls were clapping in time. It was very festive. Then I called Babette and gave her Willka, the future kindergarten teacher, to look after. Now exactly ten of my ladies were ready for the new arrivals. Each took a rucksack, took a girl by the hand, and led her to her room on the first floor. I called after them unnecessarily, “Please wash your hands thoroughly.”

Esther replied cynically, “Yes, Daddy.” Everyone laughed; the mood was very good.

As I was about to embrace my wives, three teenagers called out: “Wash your hands first, Michael.” They were right, as usual, and laughed their heads off, but I had to laugh out loud, too.

Our women were very excited about the girls’ arrival. However, there were some worrying comments about their physical condition. Despite the six weeks of recuperation with Grandma Isabelle, the hardships of the past two years were clearly visible.

A little later, Fahsai appeared, holding little Theres by the hand. I was astonished. The petite girl from Bulgaria was wearing the same lime green tracksuit that Fahsai had worn almost three years ago. Soon, the other couples followed, some of them in sportswear. Lenya stood at the table with stickers with the first name and country of the new girls written in large letters. Priya and Esther had done a wonderful job. However, the clothes were a little too big for almost everyone, even though the new ones were a little older than our girls when they arrived in the valley.

In pairs, my young women and their new friends walked around our garden. There was quite a crowd at the alpaca enclosure and the guinea pigs. Babette had already made friends with Willka and led her to us. Ramona greeted the young woman very nicely, but our three Peruvians immediately started chatting excitedly in wild Quechua when they realised that Willka spoke their language. I then withdrew with Ramona and explained the reason for the young Peruvian’s arrival and what I had in mind for her. I received an approving but also somewhat demanding kiss.

Luisa and Cara worked in the kitchen. Fahsai had Theres help her with the barbecue on the terrace. Everything was going well until Lenya came to me very seriously. “Do you want to have children with the new girls? They are already scared when they see our bellies.”

“No, Lenya, I will try not to have any more children. I have had more than enough children from you, and we are expecting eleven more. But this is a very important matter. For this and other reasons, many of you were very afraid of me in the beginning. We must prevent that this time. But they will not understand us.”

“Maybe it will work, four of them understand Russian quite well. I’ll try to explain the matter after dinner.”

Willka was also worried when she saw all the pregnant women, but Olivia calmed her fears. Then Valentina and Adriana called for help. They could no longer cope with all the small children and babies on the upper floor. The mothers came for their children. At first there was a lot of hustle and bustle, but soon the new girls were sitting with their carers admiring their children. Almost everyone stood with Daja and watched in fascination as she proudly breastfed her now five-month-old Onno. Luca stroked her and picked up the boy to let burp him.

Diego stalked the rows of new girls. Apparently, he had taken my words of a few weeks ago very seriously and was already looking for a bride. Inka from Germany seemed to have taken a liking to him, as he went to play table tennis with her. Esther, Inka’s current carer, came along and was delighted to see how quickly the two children had become friends.

The dinner service was perfect. Most of the pairs sat at tables for four on the covered terrace, but some ate in the anteroom. The four of us adults, Willka and Babette, as well as the sisters Valentina and Adriana, ate at the big table. I discussed the evening’s programme with my assistant. First, we were going to watch Priya’s film about our life together in the first year at Paradiso, which Enzo’s daughters hadn’t seen either. Then we were going to let off steam to some heavy metal music. The newcomers could show their joie de vivre, but Daja, Luca, and Diego should also be encouraged to dance. Cara had promised me to try the simplest form of her group dance with as many people as possible, except for the heavily pregnant ones. Afterwards I had planned for the new children to shower together in the freshly prepared shower room upstairs. The girls had probably not showered or bathed since their arrival in Ashmanton. Priya had already laid out the pyjamas, which were probably appropriate but unfortunately a little faded.

The screening impressed the new girls and the other guests. There were wild comments, applause, some trying to sing along or clap in time. Willka was beaming with excitement. She had never seen such happy and beautiful children, she told me, beaming.

Now all the newcomers had to overcome their fears. Everyone was given the task of introducing herself. If they got too stuck, their sponsors were there to help. When I thought about our first two days in the valley, today was a quantum leap forward. My questions were not well understood, but with the help of their carers we learned a lot about our newcomers. The dancing that followed was a joy. By the second song, Luca was dancing with Daja and Diego with Inka. Babette, Sula, and Fahsai rocked along. In between, Isabella and Kira did a flamenco. The ten newcomers, some of the young mums and the three women from our table joined in with Cara’s group dance.

Heavenly creatures, like angels, had come into our care. Their faces were harmonious and expressive. Their childlike beauty was fully developed again. It was clear to me at first glance why they had been chosen by the modelling agencies. All the young girls in the world were beautiful in their natural way, but the ten new girls were true beauties, brilliant faces, as if painted by a gifted artist, only their bodies couldn’t keep up. But the best thing was that the girls had their smiles back, they had overcome their inhibitions and shyness on the first evening.

Nevertheless, calm had to return. I whistled loudly to get them ready for bed, snapped at two girls who did not calm down immediately, and made sure they were disciplined after the hilarity. Babette and Sula had taken over. We walked up the stairs in a civilised manner. Soon, I heard the girls laughing and screaming in the shower room. I would have liked to check their physical condition, especially the thinness of most of them, but I preferred to be cautious rather than curious. I left it to our doctor. With her firm but friendly manner, she had already managed to build up a certain level of trust with her new patients.

Lenya told me in the corridor that she had managed to reduce the fear of possible pregnancy somewhat, but that a greater uncertainty remained. The girls were somehow communicating with each other in gibberish, but it was very superficial, not a real conversation.

Lenya accompanied me upstairs. The godmothers were to keep a strict eye on order and cleanliness. Today I had announced my first tour of the rooms, but tomorrow I wanted to see if the new girls could keep their rooms clean and tidy on their own. If necessary and appropriate, I wanted to set an example again. The few hairdryers were in action. It was louder than expected, much too loud. It woke some of the small children from their sleep and they added to the noise. The young mothers had to lull their babies back to sleep.

Then came my whistle. It took too long for everyone to get to the open door. I sent the carers to the stairs or to their rooms. I was very strict, pointing out three girls who didn’t have name badges, and pretending to step on one girl’s bare feet. Of course, she had to wash her feet again. Then three girls had to show me their washbasins and toilets, two others their dressers. I emptied one after showing everyone the mess. When I clapped again, they all went to bed. Babette walked me through the rooms. Everyone had to breathe on me. I sent three of them to brush their teeth. At the end I shook each one’s hand and stroked their hair. Babette said a sweet “Good night” and kissed each one on the forehead. The first day was over and, in my opinion, a success.