STRONGER AND WISER FOR THE SECOND GENERATION

As the women in our Mumbai Sanctuary grow and change, so do their families! Several of the women are married, one is a recent mother, and one is a brand new mama-to-be! Watching the young women become wives and mothers naturally should be celebrated, but even more so because of obstacles which they have overcome. As shared in The Art of Dreaming, many young ladies must learn to dream, to plan and establish bright futures for themselves. With the addition of a husband and child, we are working to create stronger, wiser families. 

During the past couple months I have had the privilege to encourage one of our expectant mothers. Each week we read a website explaining her baby's development. As her pregnancy progresses, the website highlights a fruit or vegetable that represents the baby's size or weight. Of course, she loves the veggie comparisons!  How fun for her to be able to hold a mango and think, "My baby is this big!" What a joy to see the thrill on her face as she learns more about her baby, and as she talks about her and her husband's plans for taking care of the child.

The loving and stable environments that iSanctuary mothers are able to give to their children provide a stark contrast to the worlds in which many of our Sanctuary participants were raised. This is our ultimate goal at iSanctuary: creating stronger, wiser women who create healthy, sustainable futures. Little girls who are valued and educated. Stable income sources for parents. A lack of the fear and violence that often lead to abuse of young girls and women. These kinds of things are necessary in order to give survivors of human trafficking a way out of the cycle that could so easily claim them otherwise. At iSanctuary, the second generation represents for us the long-term victories that we fight to give our ladies the space and resources to achieve. That makes those little baby fingers and toes more precious to us than almost anything else I can imagine.

Erin Arendse
Program Liaison