October 25, 2023
We want to share with you the story of Anjuna's* courageous escape from slavery, and how the support of our donors is a big part of her miraculous life transformation and healing.
She was held prisoner in a small budget hotel room in one of India's largest cities. Little to eat. Never allowed to go outside.
This was Anjuna's reality at age 17, an orphan raised by her aunt and uncle who lived in extreme poverty.
Trafficked from Nepal thinking she was going for a garment factory job, instead she was forced to sell her body to men 4 or 5 times a day.But in a moment of miraculous provision, one of the men left his cell phone in her room.
She remembered the number of her uncle back home and fortunately the call went through and he answered.
She told him she was being held captive and watched constantly, with little chance of escape.
She immediately hid the phone and waited for her family to come rescue her. After a couple of days of waiting anxiously, she received a text that her uncle was close after his journey from Nepal.
Fortunately, thanks to her uncle's wise actions, they coordinated their plan on the cell phone, and she was able to slip out when the man watching the rooms had taken a break.
They had heard about our She Has Hope rehabilitation home and trade school in Kathmandu, and Anjuna made her way to join us. In her own words, she shared with us:
"I am so thankful to all the supporters who made this possible for me. Because of them I have this opportunity to learn craft-making and tailoring skills and I have a good place to live and good food to eat."
Now, Anjuna is 23 and she is a part of our staff team.
And this is how the circle of hope continues. A girl rescued and set on a course of healing thanks to your generosity, now able to encourage other girls who suffered her same fate.
All made possible because of donations from generous individuals like you.
Thank you for reading Anjuna's story, we are so grateful for all of the support that keeps girls like these smiling and filled with hope.
We face a lot of darkness in this world, but we remain hopeful when we remember that so many like you care and are standing with us in this fight.
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* Story names are changed to protect our program participants.