Tag Archives: Annie Dieselberg
Shadow of Hope
The shadows beneath the stairs provided a temporary reprieve from the demands of the street. *Ola blended into the darkness, but I spotted her and paused to greet her and ask her nationality. Caught off guard she admitted she came from Uganda, like so many others we meet on the streets. I knelt down to catch her […]
True Love is A Stranger
True love is a stranger she dares not let in. While there is something appealing about him, she can’t believe he is for real. She turns him away at the door and cries because he pulls on something deep within her. It’s an unfamiliar place, locked away and she’s scared to go there. The door […]
Staying Alive
Death’s shadow loomed over Yana, sucking the life from her emaciated body. We had been acquainted with Yana, a tall blond Central Asian, for a couple years, and we were increasingly concerned, but Yana mostly kept to herself. One night on a routine visit, Lionel, the manager of the brothel, pulled us aside to ask […]
Red Light Redemption
Bangkok had very few Christmas decorations when Jeff and I first arrived twenty years ago. A department store was decorated with tinsel and played carols for shoppers and a hotel had a display of reindeer and a sleigh out front. The bars caught on quickly and bar girls wore Santa caps to entice their international […]
Reunited
“Asha” couldn’t hold back the tears as she struggled to speak to us. The deep emotions of her heart rose up and smothered her words. Asha cried silently while her friends sat in closer to hug and encourage her. My colleagues and I had gone to Africa to visit the trafficked women we have repatriated […]
Christmas in the Brothel
“It’s like my home.” The blond Uzbek woman had tears in her eyes as she thanked us. NightLight’s outreach team and visitors from Iris had just sung Christmas carols inside the brothel where these women from Uzbekistan, Russia, and one from Columbia are working. 21 of us gathered in the lobby and, accompanied by guitar […]
A Trafficked Woman’s Gratitude
“Thank you for everything!” I have heard these words many times this year spoken by the precious Ugandan women who have been given a way out of their trafficking situations and a way into new lives of hope. We recently had a goodbye party for four of the women who have been staying in NightLight’s […]
Trafficked Once, Trafficked Again, and Again
“Leena,” an Uzbek, was first trafficked when she was 16. A neighbor sold her, and a few others, for $100 each to an agent. They were then smuggled across the border of Uzbekistan into Kyrgyzstan. After waiting for a few months in Kyrgyzstan, they were sent to Dubai. The opportunity to work in Dubai sounded […]
Annie Dieselberg 