Not forgotten

A second wave of food deliveries brought hope to 150 families in one of our undisclosed locations.

Packs, containing a month’s supply of dry goods and two weeks of produce and soap, have been sent to families with girls previously in our care in the region. With lockdowns restricting work, many families are left with nothing and are unable to buy food. Entire communities are at risk of starvation.

S. is 17 years old. She stepped out of a life of exploitation and lived in one of our residential homes last year. There she learned the skill of tailoring, received counseling and went to emotional health classes.

She left our home before the program finished to care for her ailing, widowed mother. She continued her tailor training and even earned some income for her family! Her life was improving and she remained safe and free from exploitation. As the pandemic hit, jobs became scarce and her family’s income dried up. With no money for food, they were living off of a bag of rice provided by the government. When our teams arrived and S. received a food pack, she was so happy.

She said, “Thank you so much for coming and blessing us with the food. Each day we think, ‘where do we get the needed food?’ It has been several weeks since we had [protein] and fresh vegetables. Life has become so hard to live without work and money. Thank you Destiny Rescue so much for this generous help.” 

B. is 18 years old and was rescued two years ago. After completing six months in our residential home, she returned to live with her family. She gained safe employment with her own income after receiving training in our home.

In March, both she and her father lost their jobs as the country went into lockdown. Life at home was never easy. The increased financial stress made things even more difficult as her alcoholic father reacted violently to the tension around him. Hunger became their reality; their family barely surviving off of meagre portions of rice and chilli powder.

B. became depressed and almost gave up on life when she got a call from a Destiny Rescue case worker. The worker reached out to reconnect and invite her to meet and pick up a food pack. She said, “I thought we were going to die and that God had forgotten us and suddenly you all came with such a generous supply of food and rations. Thank you so much for thinking of us.”

This wave of food distributions took three days and the team worked tirelessly to cover many miles. These efforts help further our mission to rescue children from sexual exploitation and trafficking and help them stay free. Financial desperation drove most of these girls into their original situations of exploitation.

It is encouraging that their time with us has left an impact and they have not been lured back into a life of exploitation even in these hard times.

Together, we will continue to serve them and their families doing all we can to help them stay free. These girls are not forgotten.