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For the Sake of Justice
By Brandy Campbell
Injustice can do one of two things: cripple or empower.
Israel Candia grew up watching those in his community, Las Cuadras, Bolivia, crumble under injustice. He saw children denied an education because their parents could not afford school fees. He saw the government ignore the plight of those living in poverty. He watched adults driven to sell drugs to feed their children. He saw his own parents work 12-hour days yet make such meager wages they couldn't afford clothes for Israel and his eight siblings.
It would be years before Israel could link those moments in his life to the term "injustice." But when he began to recognize the lasting effects of despair and indignity wrought by injustice and poverty, he made a promise. "I said to myself, 'One day, I will help these people. There's got to be a way that I can help these people.'"
Unlike most of his peers, Israel grew up knowing a catalyst to overcoming injustice. As a registered child at the Compassion-assisted Temporal Family Helper Project, he saw there could be a different life for the people of Bolivia. He came to understand that injustice and poverty didn't have to be the norm. Israel was able to attend school, and he became active in the local church. Education and his faith in God became tools in his arsenal against injustice.
More important, Israel and his friends were told that they could do anything — even right the wrongs they were faced with daily. And Israel believed every word.
Israel was particularly inspired by his own sponsors, who made sacrifices to support him.
"It was interesting for me to see that my own sponsors sometimes struggled," says Israel. "To know that they were making sacrifices for me was life-changing. They weren't wealthy, yet they saved their money to help me. That gave me the strength to make sacrifices to do well in school and prepared me to make other sacrifices later in my life."
Israel excelled in school, and in 1997 he graduated from high school. For the next year he worked odd jobs. With an unemployment rate of 40 percent, full-time work was nearly impossible to find. Israel was frustrated but not ready to give up. Moving to another community wasn't an option, as his ailing father depended on Israel's care. So he prayed, waiting for God's direction.
The answer to Israel's prayers came in 1998, when Compassion launched the Leadership Development Program (LDP) in Bolivia. The Leadership Development Program offers student leaders who have graduated from Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program the opportunity to attend college through a sponsor's support. Israel applied for the program. He still remembers the day he learned he had been accepted.
"It seemed like such an ordinary day," Israel says with a smile. "We got this phone call, and it was Compassion telling me I was in LDP. I began to jump up and down! My family didn't know what was going on. When I told them, everybody started screaming and laughing! It was just so much joy for all of us, for the whole family. I felt that finally all of my dreams could come true."
After much prayer, Israel decided to enroll in the law school at a local university. He says the decision was difficult. Corruption is rampant in the Bolivian government, with millions exchanged in bribes every year*. Lawyers are often in the midst of that bribery, and many of Israel's friends tried to convince him to pursue another career. But Israel knew this was his chance to right much of the injustice he had experienced growing up.
"I decided to become a lawyer to help those who do not have enough money to afford the right to be defended properly," Israel explains. "I entered this profession and I understood the difficulties that I might face. Even some people at my own church, they said it can't be done. 'You can't become a lawyer. It's much too political. You're going to become corrupt.' But I saw that not as an obstacle but as a challenge."
Israel has now been practicing law for five years. He and his wife, Benedicta, are active in their church, where Israel is also a pastor. His life has come full circle, he says. He still faces injustice every day, but now, instead of falling victim to it, he seeks ways to destroy it.
"When I was little, I grew up seeing corruption and injustice — I saw the poor stripped of their dignity," Israel says. "I am here to change that."
Success, he says, is not about money or power. "What really matters is the people that we help. My Compassion sponsors helped to teach me that. They taught me that success is measured by how we serve others. I hope to help as many people as I can. I hope to make the Lord and my sponsors proud."
*http://www.business-anticorruption.com/normal.asp?pageid=164
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