There's no place like Home...

Recently Destiny reached the one year mark and another volunteer sat down with the girls and had them talk about how that time here has affected them. It was good to hear about how they feel they've changed or grown, but it was also sad to hear about the situations that led them here in the first place. One of the girls told her story and I shall recount it here for you so you can hear for yourself how things have changed for some of them.

This particular girl, who I'll call Amy, was very young when her father took a trip to Mumbai for business and was apparently murdered. When the news arrived in Kolkata her mother took her and her younger brother and sister to Mumbai to try and get some answers. When they arrived the local people told them that he had drowned and that no body was found. The local people, feeling bad for the family, raised some money for them and sent them on their way back home. When they arrived back home they used the money they were given to live off of for some time, however it didn't last very long. After a few months the mother was forced to sell their house in able to get more money for them to live off of. They then moved into her grandmother's home since they had nowhere else to go.

After a few months with their grandmother she said they couldn't live there any longer and had to move out. They were able to find a small apartment to live in but since no one in the family had a job (and a source of income) they weren't able to stay there to long.

One day her mother took her and her brother and sister to the Kolkata train station and were told they were being sent away because her mother couldn't afford to take care of them any longer. They became very scared and her younger brother (who was about 9 at the time) ran off. She hasn't seen him since.

Once this happened, her mother, changed her mind and they went back to the apartment they were living in and pleaded with the landlord to let them stay there until they could find her brother. The landlord initially agreed and let them move back in, but within a few weeks they were told they had to go again. At this point her mother literally went insane and was taken to a mental asylum while her and her younger sister were taken to a place to live and work. While at this place, they were both verbally and physically abused and it got so bad that Amy ran away from the place leaving her sister behind, because she had no choice. She then found her way to a shelter home that she is currently staying in and then a few weeks after that came to Destiny to start working. Her younger sister is still in the place they were abused and her mother has escaped from the asylum. So at this point in her life she has no clue where her younger brother or mother are and her sister is in a place where she knows she's not being treated that well.

Over the course of the past year, while working at Destiny, she has been able to save up some money and hopes to be able to get a place soon on her own where she can have her sister come stay with her. She still wonders where her mother and brother are and obviously worries about them everyday.

In her time here at Destiny over the past year, she has learned very marketable skills, formed good friendships with the other girls and received a better wage then she was earning before. She does feel hopeless about the future still, so there is still work to be done. She says that so much bad stuff has happened to her in her short life that she can't look to far ahead or feel that positive.

I think with more time and more success here at Destiny she and the other girls with her will be able to achieve some of the goals they have and hopefully have a better outlook on life. In order for this to happen though we need to keep getting them more business which in turn will make them more money and give them more independence.

Don't underestimate the impact you have by supporting TEN. It's not just about buying something yourself but also spreading the word about the girls and what they're doing. That in a way is more important. The more people that know the more people that will help. As I keep saying, it's all about strength in numbers. This is a lesson the traffickers have learned. And it's one we need to get better at in order to beat them.

Namaste!