This is becoming my most complicated trip. I've never had to apply for a visa before, I've always just gotten them at the border (South Africa, Ireland), and let me tell you: it is a pain. They want all sorts of weird information like the city your parents were born in (surprisingly my guesses were both correct!), and the address you will be staying at (which if you remember this post, the addresses overseas cause me problems), all the countries you have visited in the last TEN YEARS (and then they only gave me space to list about six countries…). But it will be worth it when I meet those amazing girls.
Speaking of: we learned a little more about what we will be doing at the camp. The girls we will be working with are all over 18. The reason this is important is because they have aged out of the system that has been providing for them since they were rescued, and if no one ensures that they have fully healed and have the skills necessary to provide for themselves, they will go back to prostitution. Some of them already have children from their days in forced prostitution as a child, and they need to provide for their babies! What else do they know? What else can they do? And when a woman over 18 enters prostitution in India, it is extremely difficult to get her out, even if she changes her mind because she "consented."
The issue of "consent" is even a thorny issue here in the United States. Not everyone understands that consent needs to be given to every act, every time, and can be revoked at any time. If that is difficult for "respectable" people a developed nation to grasp, you can only imagine the problems in the underbelly of a third world country. So these barely legal girls must be saved, this is their last stop before re-entering "the real world." This is the last chance to keep them from disappearing back into prostitution forever.
And it's working!
Many of the girls become social workers who then work with other girls who have just been rescued from sex slavery. Some of them have become nurses or teachers. Some have gotten married and started families. It's wonderful. Not only has something evil and horrible ended, but something wonderful and beautiful has begun.
This was the inspiration for the T-shirts I'm selling to help fund my trip. They are $25 and how much of the money comes to me depends on how many I sell. If I sell 10 shirts, the company will give me $10 per shirt. If I sell 20, they'll give me $15 per shirt. If you want to donate directly to my fund at Crossroads, click here. (I have to take a week and a half off from work for the trip so every little bit donated is a big help and is greatly appreciated! So far I have sold 6 shirts and raised $13 in donations.)
Their happy endings start at camp, where one of the goals is to give them back their childhoods. They didn't get to do all the silly fun things we did as kids like crafts and games. Each of our small groups have to come up with an activity for the girls to do one day. In the past they've done an exercise video, made beaded bracelets, played the "minute to win it" game etc. We were told "anything you liked to do as a kid, they will love." Technically we are not allowed to give them any gifts while we are there, because then the focus can shift from relationship building to "what can you give me and what do you want in return?" The leaders said usually the girls give the jewelry they make back to us because they are so grateful that we came (makes me tear up).
My idea is to paint suncatchers.
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| Examples of suncatchers from Hobby Lobby, even though I have personal problems with their store. |
I loved to make these things as a kid and I'm hoping that they would be allowed to put them up in the windows of the after care home to decorate and make a more personalized space. Hopefully since they would be sharing them with everyone, they would be allowed to keep them. If anyone has any other ideas, I'd love to hear them!
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