Go Beyond

Undisclosed Location | South Asia | 12 July 2010

One of my favorite characters from the world of literature is Don Quixote de La Mancha, a character born in the fertile imagination of the Spanish writer Cervantes. I especially like the musical adaptation of this powerful story. In the musical version, Don Quixote, known as the knight of the woeful countenance, goes off in search of adventure and encounters a woman named Aldonza who is a prostitute. Don Quixote approaches this woman and respectfully lauds her as “My Lady.” But when Aldonza hears his greeting, she sarcastically responds by saying, “Me a lady? I was born in a ditch by a mother who left me there, naked and cold and too hungry to cry. I never blamed her. I am sure that she left, hoping that I would have the good sense to die. I am no lady. I am only Aldonza.” However, undaunted by her bitter reply, the Man of La Mancha insists, “Your name is not Aldonza. I give you a new name. You are my lady. And I give you the name Dulcinea.” The name Dulcinea is a name that means something sweet and good, essentially everything that Aldonza was not.

Later in the story, the Man of La Mancha again encounters Aldonza immediately after she has been raped in a barn. When Don Quixote approaches and addresses her as “My Lady,” she screams at him, “Don’t call me a lady! Won’t you look at me! I am only a common prostitute reeking with sweat. A thing men use and forget! I am not a lady. I am Aldonza. I am nothing, nothing at all!” And then, as she runs away, the Man of La Mancha calls out to her, “My Lady!” And, after a short pause, he again calls, “My Lady!” And then he calls out the new name he has given her, “Dulcinea!” At the conclusion of the play, when the Man of La Mancha is on his death bed, a beautiful woman approaches and kneels at his bedside. Don Quixote looks at her and asks, “Who are you?” The woman then stands and announces, “My name, sir, is Dulcinea!” Finally, at the conclusion of the story, the woman named Aldonza who was so filled with self-hate becomes Dulcinea, the kind of person that the Man of La Mancha always envisioned she could become.

The story of Aldonza is a story of pain, hope, and transformation. Many of the girls who live at the aftercare home we support understand and share Aldonza’s feelings. They understand what it means to be stripped of their self-esteem and to be clothed in the rags of shame. They know what it is like to service the unwanted advances of brutish men. They weep in the night as they try to make sense of why a family member or neighbor would sell them to a sex trafficker. They ache with the pain of self-loathing and self-condemnation. And, they live with little hope that anyone will ever truly love and care for them because of what they have been through. They are the damaged merchandise of human trafficking — the things men use, cast aside, and forget.

In many ways, the attempt to rescue and to help these young girls rebuild their broken lives seems like a quixotic undertaking. Rescuing these girls is dangerous work. Helping them rebuild their lives is hard work. But, Jesus is all about mending broken lives and making all things new. And that’s exactly what happened today at the aftercare home where our girls are working. Seven of the young residents, each with a story like Aldonza’s, embraced the hope of the gospel and placed their faith in Christ. With God’s help, these girls will move past their pain to a brighter future. And, one day when someone asks, “Who are you?” they will reply with confidence and poise, “My name is Dulcinea. I am a life transformed by the love of God and the kindness of His people.”