Here is a brief look at a ride in an auto-rickshaw through one of the less crowded areas of Delhi.
Touchdown. I’m finally back in Delhi.
It’s been almost eight years since I was last in Delhi. It’s a city that I’ve grown to love. This is my third visit and I’m really looking forward to seeing some familiar faces as well as meeting many new friends.
I’m wondering if it will feel strange not cycling while I’m in India this time around. My last two visits were all about riding. Those visits were part of an initiative to begin Bike for Bibles in Delhi. Cycling in India is an adventure, maybe even an extreme sport. One thing that will be easier is not having to drag a bike box around the airport.
Girls off the Streets
While I’m in India this time around I’ll get to see some of the work SIMaid is doing through their Girls off the Streets project. SIMaid is working to bring hope and healing to women who have been released from forced prostitution. It’s vital work and I’m looking forward to seeing how they’re helping to restore lives.
After seeing what’s being done in Bangladesh, I’m confident that I’ll be hearing about changed lives and restored hope. I’ll also hear about the heartache that has marked so many lives. How can trust be restored when a woman has been betrayed and abandoned?
I’ll try to keep updating you with what I’m doing and experiencing but n the mean time please take a few moments to explore the Girls off the Streets website.
Summer’s kicked in here in Australia and it’s the time of year when thoughts turn to holidays. Tomorrow’s my last day at work for the year and on Monday I fly away. With that in mind, I’m wondering where your mind travels when you start to think about holidays. Is there somewhere you’ve been that you’d like to visit again or is there somewhere you’ve always wanted to see?
As I’ve mentioned before in my post Girls off the Streets, I’m getting ready to head to Bangladesh and India to see the work that SIMaid is doing to rehabilitate girls who have been rescued from forced prostitution.
I know that it’ll be a very confronting trip but I’m also looking forward to being back in India. I’ve visited twice before and I just love the country, its people, the food, the sights. I’ll even be dropping in on the Taj Mahal for the third time.
I can’t believe that our departure is just days away. Very early on Monday morning I’ll be in the air heading for Malaysia on the way to Bangladesh and India.
When you’re thinking about holidays where does your mind go? Is it overseas or somewhere in your own country? I’d love to hear where your brain goes for vacations.
In 1999 Kerry and Annie Hilton left New Zealand with their four children and moved to Kolkata, India to work and live amongst the poor. Naively, they signed up for an apartment in the middle of the day.
It was only when Kerry was taking a walk at night that he discovered they had moved into the largest red light area in the city. Their new neighbours were thousands of women forced into prostitution by trafficking and poverty. That was the beginning of a business named Freeset.
Freeset is located in Sonagacchi, the largest, most infamous sex district in Kolkata, India. Within a few square miles more than 10,000 women stand in line selling their bodies to thousands of men who visit daily. Many are trafficked from Bangladesh, Nepal and rural India. For others poverty has left them without options. The cries of their hungry children drive them to sell their bodies.
At thirteen, Sonali* was stolen from her village, dragged to the back streets of Sonagacchi and sold into prostitution. Her first customer drugged and raped her unconscious body.
Bashanti*, a daughter of poverty-stricken parents, was sold into the sex trade by her mother, sacrificed so the rest of the family could eat.
In India, prostitution is big business and thrives on exploitation and slavery, robbing the poor of dignity and innocence. (*Names have been changed.)
Freeset is a way of helping women escape a demeaning and exploitative life by giving them work making products which are sold around the world.
Freeset is a fair trade business offering employment to women trapped in Kolkata’s sex trade. We make quality jute bags and organic cotton t-shirts, but our business is freedom!
We would like to see the 10,000 sex workers in our neighborhood empowered with the choice of leaving a profession they never chose in the first place.
I had the privilege of speaking to Kerry on my radio program this morning about the work that Freeset does and their plans for the future. You can hear our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.
Over the coming months I’ll be part of three very different projects. Each project aims to bring hope to different people in very different circumstances.
I need to be completely upfront and say that I need your support to make each of these projects worthwhile. Yes, I’m raising funds but the funds that are raised will help to spread hope into places where it’s desperately needed. Please indulge me long enough to read about each project and then take action in supporting one or more of them.
Whatever you can afford to contribute will help in changing lives.
Morning Cafe Cancer Ride 2012
From the 13th to the 20th of October I’ll once again be taking part in the Morning Cafe Cancer Ride for Cancer Council Western Australia. I’ll be cycling over 500 kilometres from Albany to Perth. The ride follows the success of rides held over the last few years. This will be our fourth ride highlighting the cancer journey of a number of people and raising money to fight cancer. If you’re in Australia your donation is tax deductible. Even if you’re not, the work that Cancer Council WA is doing is making a difference throughout the world through some highly regarded research projects. Just head to the webpage and click donate. My aim is to raise $1000 for Cancer Council WA.
Girls Off the Streets
In December I’ll be traveling to Bangladesh and India to learn more about the Girls Off the Streets initiative through SIMaid. In Bangladesh there are approximately 500 000 children living on the streets due to poverty or abuse. Many girls who live on the streets are sexually exploited. The Indian Government states there are 2.8 million people prostituted in India, but human rights groups claim it is more like 15 million. 200 girls are entering into the sex trade every day with 80% of them doing so against their own free will. I’ll be traveling to both countries with SIMaid to witness the work they do to stop trafficking and sex slavery while transforming the lives of young girls rescued. My role will be as a storyteller, communicating the need online, on radio and to churches back here in Australia. I need to raise money for my travel costs (around $2500 – $3000) and if you’d like to contribute please email me via my Contact Page so that I can let you know where to direct your money.
Great Ocean Road Challenge 2013
In February I’ll be taking part in the Great Ocean Road Challenge for the second time, cycling around 300 kilometres to raise much needed funds for Compassion. Having seen first hand, both in Haiti and Dominican Republic, how effective Compassion’s work is, I am determined to do more to help. That’s why I’ll be riding 290 kilometres in three days and I need your support. By sponsoring my efforts on the challenge you’ll be releasing children from poverty. You’ll be giving children a real chance at life. Please visit my fundraising page and make a contribution. Maybe you can afford to sponsor me for a dollar a kilometre, maybe 50 cents a kilometre, or perhaps you’d just like to donate a set amount. My goal for this ride is to raise $2500.
I’ll write more about each project over the next few months but my strong desire is that one or more of these projects will capture your heart and imagination and you’ll help me in raising hope for others.