Tag Archives: NightLight International
Are You the Ones Who Help the African Ladies?
Eden’s baby was still nursing when she was left behind in Africa. As a single mother, it was not Eden’s plan to leave her baby behind, but not much was going her way. The breaking point came when Eden’s father died unexpectedly. Her stepmother sold their home and took off with all of the inheritance. […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Chain that Links Africa to China to Thailand is Breaking
We were far away from Africa, but as we followed “Penny” through the alleys and back streets of Guangzhou China, African voices, fabrics, and smells transported us to the African continent. We made our way through the markets selling everything from electrical supplies, wholesale clothes, African foods, African movies in various languages, and African hair […]
A Prostitute’s Humanity on The Bargaining Table
“She’s not a human being! She sells her body!” The fruit vendor on the street spoke with disgust and her words left me shocked. I felt anger rise up in me. She was justifying her attack of a young Uzbek woman earlier that evening. We were winding up our outreach where young Eastern European […]
Hope for Natasha
I thought she was a child. Beng and I were walking to the hospital to visit a friend, when I saw a blond, white girl sitting under a sign. As I got closer, I realized she was a grown woman and probably Russian. I guessed she was a streetwalker, but her hair was disheveled and […]
Losing A Child
Losing a child is a mother’s greatest fear. Women will do almost anything to protect their children, and trafficked women are no different. A mother’s love for her children is probably one of her greatest vulnerabilities to being trafficked. Mothers risk taking a job in another country in hope of giving these children a better […]
Annie Dieselberg 