I thought I would find desperation but I found hope. I thought I was about to experience heartbreak but instead there was expectation of a better future. Don’t get me wrong, it was still an enormously emotional day but yesterday was a lot different than I imagined it would be.
Where is the hope?
What do you do when everyone you thought you could trust turns their back on you? Where do you turn when you have no home and no hope?
For many homeless young women in Bangladesh the only place to go is the streets. They’re young, some very young, they’re vulnerable and many end up being sexually exploited or even sold into prostitution. Many of the most desperate are those who are pregnant or who have young children.
This is where SIMaid’s Girls off the Streets project steps in.
The past doesn’t have to dictate the future.
Yesterday I visited a centre with many happy, beautiful young ladies who have found care, trust and a purpose. They’ve been rescued from the kind of abuse that’s marked their lives to this point. They’ve found someone who will care for their health needs, help with their babies, give them educational training as well as skills that will prepare them for a far more optimistic future.
I also visited the area where many used to live. An open street side area full of desperate people, many begging for the essentials of life. The difference between those in SIMaid’s project and those still on the streets was stark. It wasn’t hard to imagine that so many more young, vulnerable women could know safety and care if only there were more resources available for the work SIMaid is doing.
Lives are being changed.
The photo above shows just one of the young women who have had their lives transformed. Her life on the streets has become a life of learning skills that will lead to a hope filled future. Through Girls off the Street she can earn money to create a real home for her and her children.
When you support SIMaid, you’re supporting hope and I know that if you could have only spent five minutes with the ladies we met yesterday, if you’d heard their stories, if you’d seen the joy in their faces, you’d become a passionate supporter of Girls off the Streets.
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