The Move to Missouri

    After surviving the first six days, I was moved with a few other girls to the Missouri home. We were told "the Lord gave us land." According to the McNamara's, the Boggs (a neighboring ranch family) had "given" us 40 acres of land. Little did I know but it was just another attempt to get out of the fire of media, survivors, and others dedicated to shutting down abusive facilities like New Beginnings Girls Academy.
    The trip to La Russel, Missouri was a  long one. It seemed to last forever! As usual, I was locked down 24/7 by 2 "buddies." What they called our buddies, were really just other girls in the home that were more trusted. They were also less likely to run and seemingly committed to the Baptist religion that was strictly enforced. As someone wisely once said, there the prisoner also became the guard.
    What exactly is the buddies' responsibility? Being a Buddy meant that your job was to welcome the "new girl" to the strict laws, rules, and structure of the home. It was your responsibility also as a buddy to train that new girl to break down to the elements, punishments, and other things that we faced each and every day. If the new girl got in trouble, usually the new girl's Buddie also got in trouble. It did not matter if you broke a rule or not, if your new girl did you were often held accountable for not being strict enough.
    How long did new girl last? Usually it ranged from one to three months. However, that was not always the case. I personally was on "new girl" for fifteen of the twenty-five months that I was there. Being on new girl meant that you could not look at, talk to, take anything from, or even acknowledge another new girl. Almost always on the new girls, those with short new girl times ALWAYS have a buddie. My situation (that I will explain in a later post) was a lot different. Yes, I did have a buddie for a while, but eventually over time I was still on new girl, but buddy free.
    La Russel, Missouri, was a lot different that the Pace, Florida, location. Although both facilities were full lock down facilities, the Missouri location was a lot bigger. We were surrounded by woods, barbed wire, ditches, and a river. Escaping successfully was extremely unlikely, but some of us never quit hoping.