Mother Made Her Child Sleep on the Street Every Night. The Reason Made Everyone Cry
When people first discovered the sight of a little girl sleeping alone on the street every single night, the immediate reaction was one of outrage. Everyone assumed they knew the truth, and everyone was wrong. The little girl slept on the hard, cold floor, and the world was quick to judge her parents, but the reality behind the situation was far more profound than anyone dared to imagine.
One day, a painful video appeared on social media, showing a little girl of about three years old sleeping on the ground. She had nothing under her small body but a dirty, crumpled piece of cardboard. The girl was the daughter of a woman who sold vegetables in the country’s largest market. As the video of the little girl began to spread through social media, the event soon became known to users everywhere. Because the video was short and only showed little Martina peacefully asleep on the old cardboard that served as her bed, users began to speculate. They assumed that perhaps the little girl was there because of the carelessness or neglect of her parents, or perhaps she was wandering the streets having been abandoned by them.
Many times, when we do not have all the information available on the particular facts of a situation, it is very easy to fall into incorrect ideas or wrong assumptions. This was the case with Doña Matilda and little Martina. The negative comments and condemnation of the alleged cruel and irresponsible parents of that little girl generated an even greater wave of anger across the networks. So, the young man who had taken the video was given the task of returning to the place and inquiring more deeply about the life of the little girl. What he discovered was something completely heartbreaking.
The young man spoke with Martina’s mother, and the lady told him the sad truth behind her desperate situation. “I had built a small cardboard house with scraps and I lived near the market, but in a brush fire in a yard next to my humble little house, it caught fire and burned to ashes,” she explained. “Now, having no one to help me and nowhere to go, I was forced to take my little girl with me to the market and stay there to sleep.”
When the sad story of that little girl and the difficult life of her mother was revealed, people began to show a very intense interest in learning more about them. What they discovered was very, very sad. Doña Matilda was the mother of four children, plus another one, whom she raised alone since her partner, a victim of alcoholism, had died of cirrhosis. He had left the five children and Doña Matilda homeless. The little ones, without the minimum conditions of hygiene and care, mingled among the people who came to buy, and there was a great danger they would get lost. Meanwhile, poor Doña Matilda struggled to sell what little vegetables she had to feed her little ones.
In the follow-up video, the poor woman, who in spite of being only 38 years old looked like a woman of 45 or 50, spoke to the camera. “I live here because I have no one to help me with my children,” she said. “They live this way not because I want them to, but because poverty and misfortune have fallen upon us.”
Those sad and heartbreaking statements of the woman, as well as the first video, caused a great impact on social media. People were watching her story, and a support movement began to form. People took pity and wanted to contribute so that the life of Martina and her siblings would be different. They wanted to give her a chance that life had denied them. A group was organized to collect and channel all the donations that became available. Through that group, a piece of land was bought, and a small but very cozy house was built. People donated not only money but also clothes, furniture, and household items.
Little Martina, as well as Doña Matilda and her siblings, witnessed the kindness and generosity of the people who, although they didn’t know them, had opened their hearts to such a sad story. That outpouring of nobleness and generosity was so great that it was enough for Doña Matilda to set up a vegetable and grain stand, and now she could earn a living and feed her little ones. So much was collected that Doña Matilda, wanting to give back what she herself had received, donated the excess to a foundation that ran a children’s dining room and gave shelter to women in her situation.
Generosity and kindness multiplied day by day. In life, we don’t all have the same opportunities or circumstances, and we must open our hearts to our neighbor in need and to our fellow man who is going through misfortune. With a small contribution, we can make a difference in a person’s life and restore hope and illusion. Whoever helps a person to get out of a hopeless situation and helps those who may have fallen, helps themselves and pleases the divine. We have reached the end of this story, and we hope that this story of little Martina has been to your liking.
