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September 12, 2014 by SHI Staff

Ajay’s Story of Hope

I am Ajay Pun Magar, and I’m 17. I’ve been living at Asha Nepal 11 years.

When I was young, my mother was taken from Nepal and sold into the brothel in India. From that time on, I lived with my uncle and aunty in Nepal. Those times were very hard for me. I was not sent to school; instead I was sent to work in the fields, to graze cows and goats. My mother did not forget me, though, and after a few years she arranged for me to come to India. I was sent to India and stayed with her for some years. I was still very young and unaware of the life my mother was suffering. Though I stayed with my mom, I was not given proper love and care. She seemed busy with her work all the time, unable to give me the attention I needed. I came under the influence of the bad people in the brothel, and I became a street kid, wandering here and there. Later on, I came to know about my mother’s profession, and it made me very sad.

Fortunately after a few years, my mother and I were rescued by Bombay Teen Challenge and we went to Ashagram, outside Mumbai. I was very happy to arrive there. I felt like I had a really big family. Eventually, we were able to go back to Nepal, and we were sent to live at Shared Hope Intenational’s Village of Hope Asha Nepal, where I was even happier. Aunty Bimala [the director] was very supportive, loving, and caring. Unfortunately, my mother died in 2004. I was very sad and depressed. But again, I was loved by everyone, and they helped me overcome my sorrows. I used to think I was alone — that nobody understood me, but God showed and reminded me of His promises and always lifted me up when I was down.

Now, I have completed the 10th grade and am enrolled in a high school course in Hotel Management. In the future, I want to open a fine restaurant of my own and treat people with good food and service. But my dream is also to be a football player (which Americans call soccer). I play football for renowned clubs here in Nepal — and I am good at it! — so I want to utilize my talent and share the Gospel through sports ministry.

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Manisha’s Story of Hope

My name is Manisha Sunuwar. I am 20 years old. Asha Nepal has been my home since I was 7.

I knew nothing about myself — I didn’t know where I came from, who my parents were, where my home was, nothing. I learned the bitter truth from another resident at Asha Nepal, Renu. I call her “Aunty.”

Born in a small village in central Nepal, my mother grew up very poor. At 16, she fell in love with a man who offered her a job and a better life in the city. But she was betrayed and sold in India. She soon got pregnant with me, but she did not want a baby: a boy was destined to be a criminal, a girl a sex slave like her. She wanted to get rid of me, so she started neglecting me.

That’s when my dear Aunty Renu, also trafficked to the same brothel, began caring for me, while encouraging my mother to send me to someplace I could be saved. But both of them were helpless until the wonderful day my Aunty was rescued by Shared Hope International’s local partner organization. She urged my mother to take me, to seek shelter there, but my mother was not convinced. Instead, she sent me to a relative in Nepal while she stayed to work. I am told that I lived there for three years.

Eventually, my Aunty Renu came to Nepal and searched for me. When she found me she saw that I was miserable and was being used by these relatives as anything for money. She immediately arranged to bring me to Shared Hope International’s Village of Hope, Asha Nepal. Asha Nepal gave me the parental love and care I had never had; they gave me a family! The best part is, I know Jesus. I was living in a dark cage, but He used many people to rescue and restore me. I believe that God had a plan for me from the beginning, and He allowed these things so I could testify that He is the one true God!

I am now a second-year college student pursuing a degree in Social Work. My dream is to bring change to my country in the area of Human Trafficking. Having gone through this bitter experience, I want to restore trafficking victims trafficking back into society and see sorrowful lives transformed to joyful ones.

Pooja’s Story of Hope

My name is Pooja Ghimire. I’m 21. I’ve been living at Asha Nepal since I was 8.

My mother, Shoba, was from the same rural village in Nepal where I was born. She was the eldest of seven; when her father died, she and her mother raised the younger children. At 16 my mom married, and soon I was born; but when I was five months old, my dad married another woman for her dowry and left us without food or money.

Mother desperately struggled to care for me, but life was hard. I was very sickly. Just to survive, she left me with my father and his mother and returned to her own mother. Then a woman offered her a good job in a Kathmandu factory. That woman’s “sister” arranged the trip and gave my mom some dry meat — it was drugged. She awoke as a slave, thousands of miles away in a Mumbai brothel — where she spent five miserable years in pain and darkness, without hope.

Meanwhile, I was also in severe distress. My cruel stepmother beat and threatened me, forced me to do all the housework and take care of my stepbrother. I had no education, proper food, or clothes, while my stepbrother did. I couldn’t even remember what my own mother looked like.

My mom was finally rescued by the team from Shared Hope International’s local partner organization, and went to Nepal to stay with Aunty Bimala [the director] at Asha Nepal. They formed a plan for rescuing me. When she came to my village, my stepmother hid me — she wanted to keep her slave. But one day my mom grabbed me and ran! We fled to Shared Hope International’s Village of Hope, Asha Nepal. There I got everything I had been denied — good education, food, clothes — and lots of love and care.

At 9 I accepted Christ as my Savior. All my painful experiences have helped me realize that God is there for me. Jeremiah 29:11 became real to me: I know that God has a good plan for my life; whatever He does is to prosper me, to give me hope and a future. I’m pursuing a degree in Business Administration, to become a banker and build my own business. I want to glorify God and encourage women who have gone through the same pain my mom experienced. I believe that God will help me achieve those dreams.

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Savita’s Story of Hope

I am Savita Tamang, 30 years old; Asha Nepal has been my home for 10 years.

My mom was sold in India when she was very young. She became pregnant and sought an abortion, but my father said he would take full responsibility if the child was a boy. When I was born a girl, he refused to accept me. My mom was miserable; she had never wanted me in the first place. She sent me to various people who kept me for short periods. When I contracted polio, it became even harder to find someone to take me. Finally my mother paid a maid a large sum to take me, and I was raised in that family.

The woman’s son and daughter-in-law abused me. They forced me to do household chores dawn to dusk even when I was seriously ill. I have the bitter memory of being hungry for long periods. Eventually they forced me to marry a very poor man who didn’t even have a proper place to stay. But they lied to my mom, continuing to request money for my support.

When I refused to do what this man told me, he became violent. One day, he threw me out of the house. I was miserable. I went to stay with an aunt who had been trafficked to the brothel. She hid me in her place for three weeks, but knowing she couldn’t protect me long, she begged for help from the Bombay Teen Challenge outreach team. They arranged my rescue. I asked them to help my mom too, and they were able to free her a few months later. We both were recommended to Shared Hope International’s Village of Hope at Asha Nepal — where we started our lives again.

My mom was with me for three years before she died. My family at Asha Nepal consoled me in my grief.

I wanted to utilize the beautiful life God gave me. At school, I got good grades. I work at Asha Nepal as a caregiver for the children. Now I’m in my second year of college, studying Sociology. I’m working very hard: it’s difficult after such a long gap in my education!

God has blessed me in many ways; my dream is to be a good example for those who have lost hope and faith. I also want a family of my own, and lead a normal, happy life. God has proven to me that nothing is impossible in Him!

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Shared Hope Files Joint Amicus Brief to Support Justice for Victims

On July 30, 2012, J.S., S.L., and L.C., three juvenile sex trafficking victims, filed a lawsuit against Backpage.com, LLC alleging that the website participated in their exploitation by creating an online marketplace of escort ads where children are sold and bought for sex. Backpage.com claims it is immune from civil liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), 18 U.S.C. § 230. The trial court denied Backpage.com’s request to dismiss the case and on July 26, 2014, the Supreme Court of the State of Washington granted review of the decision.

Backpage.com is a primary venue for buyers of commercial sex, including with minors who are exploited through trafficking. Just as buyers will continue to seek commercial sex acts with juveniles until we take seriously criminal deterrence efforts, Backpage.com will continue to facilitate these buyers until we stop them.

Shared Hope International joined National Crime Victim Law Institute, Covenant House New York and Human Rights Project for Girls in filing an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief urging the court to allow the case to proceed, giving the child victims in this case the right to seek justice and have their day in court. Other advocacy organizations and the Washington State Attorney General’s Office have filed briefs in support of these children also.

The Washington State Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case on October 21, 2014.