We leave Nirmal Bhavan with mixed emotions. We carried heavy hearts for Z's story but at the same time felt hope and love through her survival. Survival takes on a whole new meaning here, and with each woman we meet we see the true definition of survivors.
We move onto the Learning and Livelihood Centre (LLC) which Oasis operates to provide ongoing education, empowerment and integration back into society for women who have been rescued from trafficking. Here we meet 4 more survivors, U, P, R and T. All their names representing hope. We are accompanied by Accamma who runs Nirmal Bhavan and we meet Soulika and Abhay both who facilitate in the running of LLC. They take us through the programs where each woman is equipped with the academic and social development required to safely progress in their lives. A program is specifically designed for each woman as they are at different phases of rehabilitation and from the program charts it's clear that they are designed to provide a balanced education for all.
We get introduced to four young women who have been rescued and all who have been at LLC for various lengths of time. One is U is studying for her final exams in accounting, P is a tailoring apprentice learning from T, and R who is learning to become a beautician. Its evident these women do not take education for granted. Their eyes light up when we ask them what they want to do after they finish their training. They are determined and courageous. Their stories are similar to that of Z's the difference being that one U escaped from punching a hole through the roof of her captors and P is recovering from alcoholism at the tender age of 16. We sit in a circle and chat, like girls do, about boys (P was quick to ask me if I was married, apparently an universal question I can't seem to escape wherever I go, sigh. She says God is still searching for me, amen) jobs, Australia, kangaroos, aspirations, dreams and hope. They are candid about their experiences but we can sense that certain experiences still requires an alternative truth, to mask the depth of trauma and mental scarring endured. These women define what it means to be survivors.
We say our goodbyes for now and the women joyfully head home, a home now free of violence and oppression. Accamma kindly escorts Carolyn and I on a long bus ride home, where we are left once again to wonder in silence how this injustice can go on.
We move onto the Learning and Livelihood Centre (LLC) which Oasis operates to provide ongoing education, empowerment and integration back into society for women who have been rescued from trafficking. Here we meet 4 more survivors, U, P, R and T. All their names representing hope. We are accompanied by Accamma who runs Nirmal Bhavan and we meet Soulika and Abhay both who facilitate in the running of LLC. They take us through the programs where each woman is equipped with the academic and social development required to safely progress in their lives. A program is specifically designed for each woman as they are at different phases of rehabilitation and from the program charts it's clear that they are designed to provide a balanced education for all.
We get introduced to four young women who have been rescued and all who have been at LLC for various lengths of time. One is U is studying for her final exams in accounting, P is a tailoring apprentice learning from T, and R who is learning to become a beautician. Its evident these women do not take education for granted. Their eyes light up when we ask them what they want to do after they finish their training. They are determined and courageous. Their stories are similar to that of Z's the difference being that one U escaped from punching a hole through the roof of her captors and P is recovering from alcoholism at the tender age of 16. We sit in a circle and chat, like girls do, about boys (P was quick to ask me if I was married, apparently an universal question I can't seem to escape wherever I go, sigh. She says God is still searching for me, amen) jobs, Australia, kangaroos, aspirations, dreams and hope. They are candid about their experiences but we can sense that certain experiences still requires an alternative truth, to mask the depth of trauma and mental scarring endured. These women define what it means to be survivors.
We say our goodbyes for now and the women joyfully head home, a home now free of violence and oppression. Accamma kindly escorts Carolyn and I on a long bus ride home, where we are left once again to wonder in silence how this injustice can go on.
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