Letter from Renuka Reuben
As India faces devastating circumstances due to an insurgence of COVID-19, we remain committed to supporting the young women escaping human trafficking in our Mumbai Sanctuary, standing by their side through all the trials they face. What we hear on the news in the US is only a fraction of the story. Below is a personal letter from Renuka Reuben, the Director of our Mumbai Sanctuary, providing an insider’s view on the situation in India.
It's been over a year since the pandemic hit India and just a few weeks in our systems were already overburdened. People were panicked as they tried to navigate the constantly changing information around COVID-19 – the symptoms, the precautions and safety. Doctors and nurses pleaded with people to stay home and wear masks when they stepped outside. However for India, a country that is one third the size of the US but four times more populous, it would take a mammoth, organized and sustained effort for the right information and response to reach its people.
For over a year, we have been in some state of lockdown. The lines between work and life blurring into each other. We are staring at screens all day - waking up and going to bed reading news of escalating numbers and morbid deaths.
As the economy suffers and unemployment rises, families of the young women in our program expect their daughters, who may be the only earning member of the family, to support them - even through some unrealistic demands. Families often presume their daughter lives a carefree lifestyle through their job in the ‘big’ city. There is often pressure from home to ‘help’ them financially and to join them wherever they are – usually in small villages or towns in different States.
One of the hardest things for some of the young women has been this pressure and the sense of guilt they carry for not being able to meet these expectations and for being away from their families. Even if this isn’t the case, when someone in the family falls ill – the woman feels the pressure to travel home and help out - even at the cost of personal safety. The guilt can encompass their thoughts and threaten to derail their own journey of growing towards freedom and independence.
Most of the young women have been learning to manage their finances and understand the importance and discipline of saving for their future. They’re also working towards an educational qualification. The lockdown has left all these plans up in the air and it causes them to feel unsettled and question if they will ever be able to achieve these goals. There is anxiety towards the future – their growth, their finances, their ability to care for their families and for themselves if they were to get ill.
Thank you to all of those who are choosing to stand by the girls in our program as we navigate these difficult times.
Sincerely,
Renuka Reuben, Mumbai Sanctuary Director
Emergency Help for India
Our team needs your help more than ever to ensure that every woman, family, and employee that we serve continues to receive our full support. Our goal is to raise $240,000 by the end of September to fund International Sanctuary’s Mumbai programs during and after the COVID crisis.
Walk alongside Renuka and our team in Mumbai as we continue to change lives through the pandemic in India.
