He watched as this victim tried to traverse the justice system landscape without being fluent in English or U.S. law, and soon saw a disheartening image take shape:
The police, the doctors, everyone involved could not help, and the victim had nowhere to turn.
No options.
That victim inspired Maiko, a Kenya native, in the founding of Crime Victim Care of Allen County a little more than seven years ago.
Sunday, Maiko was on hand at an all-Spanish worship service for Iglesia Cristiana Getsemani to espouse what his non-profit organization can do for crime victims, especially those who are not well-versed in this country’s language or laws.
His appearance coincided with the start of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, which lasts through Saturday.
“The best way to reach them is to go to their faith communities,” said Maiko of getting the word out about his organization. “You go into their churches, their temples or their mosques.
“We want them to know,” he continued. “If something bad happens they have a right to information, they have a right to court proceedings and a right to be cared for.”
Crime Victim Care’s mission is, according to its website, to “bring wholeness to immigrants and refugee families who experience brokenness due to violence, crime, mental health addictions, abuse and neglect.”
The organization provides people fluent in several languages, according to Maiko, and while officials do work with the police, nobody is a law enforcement officer.
“It’s important they do not think of us as police,” said Maiko of immigrants who may contact the organization. “We have to be very careful, because some of them are scared of the police.”
Those who contact Maiko’s organization will be given information, guidance on where they can go and what they are entitled to as a victim of crime, he said.
Someone will be there to help any victim, he stressed.
And since the organization’s creation, it has grown by leaps and bounds, Maiko said.
It now partners with a slew of other advocates, such as the YWCA, Victims Assistance, the Center for Non-Violence and the Fort Wayne Sexual AssaultTreatment Center.
The organization is also working with police officers in teaching them the cultures and customs of immigrants from other nations, Maiko said.
This week, the organization has planned out several events, including a march against child abuse today, a candlelight vigil on Tuesday and a self-defense seminar Saturday.
“You cannot compare where we were seven years ago to where we are today,” Maiko said.
But the core of the message throughout the week will be, Maiko said, that if you are a victim of crime, there is somewhere you can turn, someone you can call and someone who will listen to you.
You have options.
- Journal Gazette
