It’s an Evil world…
I didn’t want to talk about it…but I just can’t get any work done today.
Our next door neighbor is here now. She is taking care of a 4 year old girl from India for 2 weeks.
Why?
At age 2 her stepmom put ACID in her eyes (blinding her) and her father left her on a train. Blind and alone.
She was found begging for food and brought into some nice people’s home.
Through some very generous people’s donations she has been given a chance to see again 2 years later here in Nashville.
She is hopping from house to house as nice people like my neighbors take her and her caregiver in for 2 weeks at a time until she can have the operation.
Watching this sweet little girl walking around with my boys. Trying to find a golf ball she’s throwing around…it’s just heartbreaking.
All I can think about is that this world has no hope. It’s just freakin’ evil.
How can someone do this to a 2 year old???
Mind you. this wasn’t an accident. The step mom pulled her head back and put DROPS into her eyes to purposely blind her.
I’m sorry. I hate to post depressing things on the Dreamland forum. I want this to be a happy place.
But I can’t think of fairies and dancing rock giants while
That’s disgusting. Sometimes the only thing that keeps my faith in people is the fact that I know there are many people like your neighbor out there as well. Hopefully, many more of them than of this little girl’s stepmother’s bunch.
Did anything happen to the parents as a result? Or was the whole ordeal just kind of swept under the carpet?
Every time you think the world has gone over to the dark side, you are reminded of the good things. The one thing that will truly keep this world from going to the dogs is because of the people out their with hearts the size of the universe.
Urge to murderise… rising…
Just remember, your neighbor (and the other volunteers) are proving there is hope. As long as there are people willing to sacrifice their time, money, and in this case home for total strangers who need it the actions of those who are evil cannot put it out.
I hope her surgery goes well. All the best.
This kind of crime is a direct consequence of the dowry traditions of India. Stepmother was trying to make sure the family resources were directed to her own children. By disfiguring the little girl, she could assure that even if she were reunited with her family, she would be unmarriageable, so no dowry would be needed for her.
Young brides are threatened and tormented by their husband’s families to produce more dowry than originally offered. The parents of brides find themselves weighing tremendous debt against the safety of their daughters, who have been menaced with cans of gasoline & acid, completely isolated from their families.
One hopes that India will abandon the dowry tradition that causes so much grief. Sorry to go on so long.
Wow. Just wow.
It is pretty difficult to understand how we can even exist as a society when so much hate and ignorance is prevalent. However, as a few have already touched on, it’s the acts of kindness which really make a difference and keep everything balanced. In this case, out of a very sad series of events comes renewed hope and opportunity. For example, once the surgery is completed, the girl will have a new lease on life and the potential to live and grow around those who are supportive and caring. Without the horrible incident happening, this might not have been possible. And you really have to admire the resiliance of the girl. Glad to hear you’re doing your part to help.
How tragic. There are some countries where girls have little worth, especially girls from a prior marriage. The stepmother may not have wanted the responsibility of raising her and since she was a girl she was expendable.
Fortunately there are organizations/individuals working to change these perceptions.
If it helps, focus on those who are willing to help, learn to be one of the ones who helps. If more of us are willing to reach out to help, to educate, to show people that there are alternative, perhaps we can stop this from happening in the future.
I wonder if there’s a charity or something I can hook up with. Maybe I can put together a charity book with some other artists. Proceeds would go to help things like this.
I can relate to how you feel Scott. As a parent you sometimes see or experience things that make you wonder if you did the right thing by bringing a child into this world or how the world survives. My son was born on Aug 22 2001. Less than three weeks later I too was wondering how this world will survive with all the evil, selfish, and hate filled people in it. The outpouring of support in the following weeks and months, like the support the local families are giving this girl, is what showed me that for every evil action in this world, there are at least two good counter-actions. Sometimes we just need to look a little harder for them.
God bless your neighbors and the other families, and Christine is right. This little girl will actually have a much better future now than she would have if that had never been done to her, thanks to the kindness of strangers.
That is an amazing thought -that she has a better future now than she would if that had never happened.
Without the accident and being left on her own, she would’ve grown up with such cruel people as her family. But now, she has kind people with her best interests looking out for her. “All things work together for good…” the events themselves may not be good, but good can come out of them in the end -like it says in a good book.
It’s true; there are cruel, terrible people out there. But there are also good, kind people out there doing their best to make the world a better place. And bringing kids up in this world; yes, like us they’ll see the good and bad -but maybe they can end up being another one of those working to put more kindness in the world.
A charity book could be a good idea. It’s always cool to help support people. 🙂
Wow, Scott. That’s a rough one. I taught for seven years in a boys’ correctional/therapeutic facility, and was often sickened and terrified by the things adults had done to their children and children had done to each other. This girl, however, has a chance at restored vision and a world of caring people to play with and help raise her. A recent move has led me to leave that job and teach “outside” again in a public middle school. Focusing on the good, the few of our residents who could grow into positive young men, always helped. –That and my own two year-old son. I can watch him giddliy discover the world and it helps me focus past the case files I can never un-learn to still enjoy tales of fairies and dancing stone giants with a sense of wonder and amusement.
Well, it means that SOME of the world is evil, sure. All you can do is be as good as possible to balance things out. After all, if EVERYONE were as sick as that girl’s mom, she wouldn’t have hope for a better future now.
Thank you all for your insight and understanding.
I truly appreciate you allowing me to just talk about this.
Thanks
I know she’s only four, but does she know English yet?
Perhaps taking over a copy of TDC to her might give your neighbors something to read to her and get visions of Paddington in her mind versus her eyes, if she understands the language well enough. Might brighten her spirits, in the very least until they can see how her surgery turns out.
Wish her well from us.
Scott, (and everybody else), if you really want to get involved with an organization, or just get to know more or spread the word or whatever, you should look at an organization that does stuff like this, only they’re based in China: China Care. I beg you to look up their website. It’s an amazing project. Basically what they do is give children who’ve been orphaned or abandoned medical care (if they need it), a safe environment to live in, education, and try to get them adopted, among other things. They don’t just aid orphans, either. I can’t go into more detail without turning this into an essay, so you’ll just have to see for yourself. 🙂
Good luck to that little girl! I’m so happy that she’s getting this chance.
And the dancing Paddington ad is awesome. 😀
A good charity to donate to or hook up with might be something like UNICEF. UNICEF might be a bit large for what you are thinking, but they might love the idea of a charity comic book. Another might be talking to a bigger human rights NGO like Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch. They’re more general, but they cover all kinds of human rights topics, including children. If they don’t focus on it, they might know a sister NGO who does and who might be interested.
Brother,
This world is not an evil world. This world is not a good world.
This world is a world where Free Will is allowed.
So yes, it is an evil world – mostly.
But the world DOES have a hope — one hope, brother. You know His Name. As do I. And it is Jeshua of Nazareth that we must lift up, as you Do in this wonderful story, so that He can draw all men unto Himself.
Thank you for this comic. I look forward to it whenever I turn on my computer.
I am sorry that you had to see her pain — but at the same time I praise God that you were able to see the beauty of the counter-response. My eyes are welled up here at my keyboard, as I think about what I would do if I encountered such a case… we are so blessed, friend. Be glad, not mad, in the fact that God uses the very momentum of wickedness to overthrow and destroy it and put in its place joy and love — a sort of “Judo” that only God can manage.
I pray for your sense of contented perspective. It’s a wonderful thing.
Your brother in Christ,
~Brandon
I think it would be nice if you donated to a charity that helps children like that poor girl, maybe select a month and all donations or profits from the comic go to that charity.
What happened to the mother? Was she punished?
I’m glad to hear that this little girl is getting such help, and I’m glad to hear that it has moved your heart to want to help a well.
Alex is right, you can’t judge a society or people in general as “evil” just because of the actions of one person. While cultural ideas may have a play in actions, the malice a person must harbor to harm a child is truly an indication that something is desperately wrong with that person – in ANY culture, including our own. If we begin to judge an entire society as good or evil, we begin to demonize people, or (even worse) to sanctify people just because of where they live. I saw plenty of abused children during my college years when I worked for daycares. Sometimes the parents were stereotypical, but often the culprit was (for all first impressions showed) a model parent. They worked hard, they dressed nice, they were always courteous to the staff, and they just happened to burn their baby boy with cigarettes when he was naughty.
All we can do is love these children, help them regain what they have lost (as your incredible neighbor has done) and try to have faith that people are good.
Kiss your neighbor for us, she’s one of the good ones.
How did they find out what happend?
The world is neither good, nor evil. Only humanity makes such things possible, good or evil. I am thankful she made it this far. In times past she’d have never survived. I hope that medical science prevails for her. That this affected you so deeply Scott is a sign of hope, you and those who have helped this poor child are proof humanity is not beyond redeeming.
Yeah, it’s quite sad that these kind of events are quite common especially in India. I think she is lucky to have lived. There have been cases where mothers pour boiling metal down a babies throat, or rub sand, or feed them poisonous seeds 🙁 poor poor things :'(
We see pain because of our obligation to relieve it. Many people send their silent pleas for help even before they know language. God hears these prayers and allows us to hear them, too, albeit indirectly. I was abused by my own grandmother, and witnessed personally many, many acts of child abuse on friends, family, neighbors, and random strangers. I realized it’s because I’m the only person at those precise moments who understood their situation well enough to try to help. Everyone else stands by and does nothing, and this inaction alone informs the victim, “You don’t matter. We don’t care.”
I am glad that someone is helping that girl, and that you care for her and are indignant for her suffering, and that so many people are responding to it.
But that girl will at least grow up knowing that someone through their actions told her, “You matter. We care.”
The world isn’t a fun place when you see the truth of it. There are people among society who don’t deserve to breathe, much less of anything else and get to live wonderful lives. Then there are innocent and good-willed people who find nothing but tradgedy. While the opposites are true, you never hear of them. We only hear about the bad things in life, because people seem to pass on bad news rather than good. After all, when was the last time you saw a news casting telling about how people are happy with their lives? I’m not saying that people aren’t happy, it’s just we never hear of it. While some people are inherently evil, some are good. Bear that in mind or else you may end up bitter.
I agree with alex and sheora… We have a gift and we need to share what we have with those who are less fortunate. My best friend was sexually abused as a child. In a weathly family. They owned three businesses in a city of 20,000 in NSW in Australia. Everywhere there are people who are horrible. Everywhere there are people who are good. Sometimes people are both. But nobody is born being horrible, so I pity the stepmother…. What must have happened to her in life to make her feel justified in doing such disgousting things to her step-daughter?
I’m a Christian and I believe God is in control. It is true that this world is evil. Satan is in the world and a lot of people do evil things. But I think that the people out there who are Christians or the people out there who know what right and wrong is, are the kind of people that can really make a difference. You see the world is evil but many people in it arent. This is what I believe to be true- until God decides that the world is done and he’s going to send Christ back to claim those who are His, then we must do what we can to bring as many people as we can to Him before that time. We must conquer evil.Just like what this generous person is doing to this poor, tortured little girl.
I may not be making much sense and some people might shun me for saying that. But if anything can answer big questions like this and soothe us after seeing such a tragic thing happen its God.
I have a tendancy to complain about my high-paying job and think that things are just horrible when life doesn’t go exactly my way. It’s stuff like this that puts it all into perspective. I think we should all think about how freakin’ lucky we are for a while.
Things like this always make me furious. I want to make the people who did it understand the pain and agony that they put their child through. That would make me no better than them, but still.
God has a plan for that girl, Scott. None of us can say what it is, but this experience will shape her and change her. One day, she may be able to help another child who has been mistreated.
Hi Scott, you might be interested in a charity anthology I’m working on–we are looking for art submissions. Proceeds will go to Equality Now, which is a charity that works against things like honor killings, abuse of girls due to the dowry situation mentioned in other posts, etc. You can find out more here:
http://nothingbutred.wordpress.com/
How amazing. Hundreds of people reach out, giving love, prayers, money, and (in the case of your neighbours) a true piece of their lives to an abandoned child most of them will never meet in person, and to whom they have absolutely no connection, emotionally, socially, or genetically.
This child will grow up knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that, while there may be one or two bad people in the world, those bad people are utterly engulfed by the basic goodness of their neighbours.
And shame on you for forgetting this.
just horrible, what is the world coming to 🙁
Yes there is evil out there. We don’t live in a place that is all ribbons and butterflies. However, Consider if you would the fact that this girl is getting help. There are nice people who are helping her to be able to get the operation so that she can see again. There are babies that are born blind and will never see. They have no Eye in their eye sockets. This girl has a chance to live a normal life. As sad as the story starts out it looks like she may have a happy ending.
Gosh that is distressing! But showing her love and kindness is the best thing that one can do for her. Of course it breaks our hearts and there are so many causes for distress. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy Dreamland Chronicals so much. It’s not full of darkness and despare or senseless violence–thanks for the break from reality.
Also, God isn’t to blame. It says in the book of James (1:17, I think…) that with evil things he tries no one. And soon his Kingdom that many Christians pray for will Reign and put an end to all suffering. Revelation 21:3,4. Any way, I find it encouraging. Wishing you the best as you deal with this crushing blow to the heart. 🙁
Disregarding all the empty religious platitudes here (if this happened to me or anyone I knew, or heck, this little girl whom I’ve never met, I don’t give a damn about any supposed divine “reason” or “plan” to explain such cruelty), is there a charity set up that I could send some $ to that you would guarantee would reach this girl and/or her caretakers? I would be happy to contribute.
I cannot help but think of the appropriateness of the current comics with this situation. You have people doing horrible things, for frequently selfish reasons (Nicodemus).
And yet, there are still so many people working against those horrible things, fighting selflessly, because it is what is RIGHT (No further details needed, I think).
Which is greater, the evil that is done – or the good that is done against it, and for it’s own sake?
I know it can be hard to “think of fairies and dancing rock giants”, but isn’t that what Dreamland is supposed to be? A place away from what brings us down, and where heroes fight because that is what heroes do?
Take the time you need to be there for yourself, your sons, and this wonderful, hopeful little girl. And know that when you come back, you are one of the heroes, fighting against the evil of the world.
I am reminded of a comic I read once, someone looking up at the night sky, talking about how the dark (sky) and the light (stars) are fighting. One character complains how the darkness is so much greater than the light, but the other insists that the light is winning.
“Once, it had all been dark.”
Now, no matter how little it may seem sometimes, there is light.
I agree with Mary-Melissa Wilzewski. Take some time to do what you need to do. Also, by mentioning this here, you are doing a great good. As a web-comic artist, you hold a great gift and great power in that you can reach out to people. Most if not all of us would not have known of this girls situation if not for you.
You have the power to reach out, to call for action. Never forget this, for it is the people with this power, people like you, that become the true heros of this world.
sending love to you and the little girl,
Meggu
Okay, I can’t even come up with a quip for today’s strip because that is just sick…sick sick sick sick sick. And I cut into dead people for class while reading about grotesque injuries. How can someone do that to a little girl?!
Gaia bless those people that helped and healed her.
I really cannot think right now, that is so sick. How could you, willingly, hurt your own daughter?
Sadly that’s what the world is coming too. But it’s not just in third world countrys, it’s everywhere.
You and your neighbors are awesome people. Can you tell them that for us? It’s people like you guys that are the light at the end of the tunnel for this evil world.
Don’t feel bad about telling us this. It’s a very awkward subject, which makes people not talk about it. I’m sure there are some people in this world who have no idea of the cruelty of mankind, and this is bad because then nothing is done about it.
Wow. People are seriously messed up!!! That’s so sad. How could anyone ever do something like that???? I value my sight beyond all other senses. I can’t imagine how a parent could hurt their child, let alone blinding their two year old.
At last! Someone with real exrsetipe gives us the answer. Thanks!
What a pleasure to find someone who idnfeities the issues so clearly
It’s about time someone wrote about this.
WHY ….. REALLY WHY is there NO PLACE to get tickets NORTH of Spring Lake???? Look at your locations …… Detroit, GR, Lansing. Why not Grayling, Traverse City or ANYTHING in the Upper Peninsula?
You’ve impressed us all with that posting!
hey Caroline! i listen to you every morning,in fact you are the only reason that i listen to kiss f.m.i am a great fan and i really want to be like you one day:strong,aspiring and amazing woman! plus you and jalango are soooooo coool.