Participants:
Series Code: HIM
Program Code: HIM000037A
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00:22 Asian Aid is an organization giving hope,
00:25 an organization fostering 00:27 permanent positive change in the lives 00:29 of disadvantaged children and their communities, 00:32 an organization that is committed 00:34 to making a difference in the lives of children 00:36 and those who are in need, 00:38 serving communities in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, 00:42 Myanmar, and India. 00:52 For the last 40 years, 00:53 Asian Aid has invested in the futures of people 00:56 and their investment has proven infinite returns. 01:01 Driven by their dedication to helping those 01:03 who have the least, 01:05 Asian Aid is an organization 01:07 focused on the welfare of children 01:09 implementing diverse development projects 01:12 and sponsoring thousands of children. 01:14 Their outreach spans from child rescue operations 01:18 to providing an education for orphans, 01:20 deaf, and the blind children 01:23 giving them a sense of place, a home. 01:26 But above all, Asian Aid is an organization giving hope, 01:30 giving hope to children, giving hope to communities, 01:34 giving hope to the ones who need it the most. 01:38 This is Hope in Motion. 01:54 Hi, I'm Jean Boonstra. 01:56 A couple of years ago, I visited India with Asian Aid. 01:59 Now as you know, Asian Aid is an organization 02:02 that's committed to making a difference 02:04 in the lives of children in poverty. 02:07 Asian Aid provides education to children and young adults 02:10 through its scholarship programs in India, 02:12 Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Nepal. 02:15 Along with its sponsorship program, 02:17 Asian Aid also runs orphanages, a school for slum children, 02:21 and schools for the deaf and the blind. 02:24 Now together with local church and school leadership 02:27 Asian Aid is committed to providing opportunities 02:30 to those in need. 02:32 Shawn and I and our daughters have been privileged 02:34 to sponsor a girl through Asian Aid. 02:36 And I must tell you, 02:38 it has been such a blessing for us 02:40 to be able to make a difference in her life. 02:44 Now during my trip to India, I met some amazing people 02:47 who are the driving force 02:48 behind Asian Aid's mission to reach out to those in need. 02:52 I met Anita, who is in charge 02:54 of Asian Aid's Operation Child Rescue program in India. 02:58 Now Operation Child Rescue is a program 03:00 that rescues and rehabilitates girls 03:03 who are trafficked 03:04 and sold as prostitutes in the sex industry. 03:07 I got to talk to Anita and she shared with me 03:10 the challenges and the dangers 03:12 that she and her team face in rescuing these girls. 03:19 Anita, it's nice to see you again. 03:21 We met a little while ago, 03:23 and it's wonderful to visit with you again. 03:26 You are the director 03:27 of Operation Child Rescue in India. 03:30 Can you tell me a little bit, just briefly 03:32 what that organization is all about? 03:35 Well, Jean, it's lovely to meet you again. 03:38 As the name suggests, Operation Rescue 03:40 is about rescuing women, children, babies, 03:44 who have been subjected to the worst kind of abuse 03:47 and who have been trafficked for different reasons. 03:50 It could be 03:52 children who are being forced to beg on the streets 03:54 or it could children who are being forced to work 03:57 in hazardous industries like bag manufacturing, 04:02 basically working long hours and against their will 04:06 or it could girls and women 04:08 who are trafficked to the worst of the brothels, 04:11 locked inside and forced to see customers 04:14 every day against their will. 04:17 And this, this is a global issue, 04:19 but you are headquartered in Bangalore, India. 04:24 Tell me how long have you being doing this work yourself 04:26 personally? 04:27 Well, it started about 10 years ago, 04:29 so 10 years is a good time to say, 04:31 I have been doing this work. 04:34 We started off basically 04:35 looking at the whole issue of trafficking 04:38 and whether it existed in Bangalore 04:41 and what were children being trafficked for 04:44 and we've ended up now doing rescues with the police 04:48 and finding rehabilitation options 04:51 for those whom we rescue. 04:53 We also do a little bit of prevention 04:55 in areas where we find more children going missing 04:58 or more girls being recruited for jobs 05:01 to prevent that from happening. 05:05 You know, it's hard to hear the stories 05:08 of what you are doing, because you are dealing 05:10 with some really, really sad situations. 05:13 Children are in danger, young women are in danger. 05:17 Let's talk for a minute about the young girls. 05:20 They are recruited from rural areas typically. 05:23 Tell us a little bit about how do they get recruited 05:26 and what age are these girls? 05:28 Well, when we first started work 05:30 and when we first started rescues the girls were, 05:32 the average age was about 17, 05:36 but today the girls are much younger 05:38 and the average age is close to 14. 05:42 So, you know, really young girls being recruited 05:47 out of schools even. 05:48 You asked me about why they get recruited. 05:51 Well, it's a combination of a number of factors, 05:55 poverty being the number one factor 05:58 that makes them vulnerable to this. 06:00 So they are very poor, 06:02 they don't know about the issue of trafficking. 06:06 Usually, they don't have a skill 06:07 and so they can't get jobs or they're in school, 06:11 but dropout for different reasons 06:13 either to look after a sibling or a parent not being well 06:17 or the school just not being important enough for them 06:21 to complete education. 06:22 And so they're pulled out of school to get married. 06:25 And it's at this time 06:27 that the traffickers prey on these vulnerabilities. 06:30 You know, the girl is at home 06:31 or the girl is looking for a job 06:34 or the girl just wants to get out of this poverty situation. 06:38 And they prey on this 06:40 and will go in and recruit them. 06:42 Sometimes they send in people 06:44 and, you know, fall in love with them 06:45 and promise a better life, to marry them. 06:49 Sometimes they offer them jobs. 06:50 They will come in and say, "We will get you a job. " 06:54 And because they're naive 06:56 and have no knowledge of what this is, 06:59 they will go with them. 07:01 But of course the job doesn't exist on the other side 07:03 or it exists in a much, much worse way 07:05 than they would have ever thought. 07:07 And sometimes when they take babies, 07:10 they kidnap them. 07:11 So the younger children- 07:13 So just snatched from their mothers or their homes? 07:16 Yes, snatched from hospitals even. 07:17 Wow. 07:18 You know, they've taken babies, kidnap babies from hospitals 07:21 or they take babies from orphanages 07:25 or young children 07:26 and they will send them to the begging syndicates. 07:29 Okay. 07:30 They'll put these children out on the street 07:32 and they have to bring in 07:33 certain amount of money every day. 07:37 So these young girls are willing to take 07:40 sort of a risk because they're vulnerable, 07:43 they're little naive to the danger, 07:46 they're looking to help their family 07:48 or to support themselves, a number of factors. 07:52 As you go in 07:53 and you actually rescue girls from these brothels, 07:57 just walk us through a little bit 07:58 how that process works? 08:03 I have learned over the years not to breakdown, 08:07 to react in the right ways. 08:09 My first time inside a brothel, I was terrified 08:12 because I didn't expect what we saw. 08:15 You know, usually these places are-- 08:17 They select places that are easy hiding places, 08:21 so you have number of rooms inside a main entrance. 08:25 If it's a house or a building, it will have a number of rooms 08:28 and individual rooms that are used for commercial sex. 08:34 So when we enter these places, 08:35 we often have to bust the front door 08:38 or we have to enter in without them knowing it 08:41 so they're not alerted to it. 08:42 Okay. 08:44 We usually have a team of about 10 or 12 08:46 including a few police. 08:49 We run inside the place, 08:50 we're always looking to grab the girls 08:52 before they are hidden 08:54 or before they are forced into some hiding place. 08:57 So surprise is key? 08:59 Surprise is key, safety for ourselves, 09:03 while looking out for an escape root 09:06 in case something goes wrong 09:08 and we all are just stuck inside that place. 09:11 The girls themselves are taken by surprise. 09:15 Often times they are scared, they will cry. 09:18 There is a lot of drama that happens inside, 09:21 that the police are shouting, 09:22 the traffickers are trying to get out, escape, 09:25 you know, they're trying to jump out of some place 09:28 and then the girls themselves, you know, they're crying, 09:31 wondering what's gonna happen. 09:34 At that point, we can't say that they are happy to see us 09:37 because they don't know who we are. 09:39 Are they questioning 09:41 that you're there to help them some often times? 09:43 Yes. Okay. 09:44 But the moment that initial drama is over, 09:47 then we get some quiet time to tell them who we are, 09:52 and why we're there, 09:53 and that we really are interested 09:56 in their long term future. 09:57 So it's not about now, it's about the future, 10:01 and that we want to see them out of this life. 10:03 And many of them will breakdown and cry 10:06 and tell you the reason why they're there. 10:08 You know, they will say, we were so poor, 10:10 so naive, we didn't know, we were promised a job. 10:13 And the story is almost the same 10:16 again and again and again. 10:17 Over and over again. Yeah. 10:18 It's-- you wonder how could people be like this when-- 10:22 But you'd realize that they are all from different places, 10:25 even if they were, say, from Bangladesh 10:27 and we're seeing increasing number of girls 10:29 from Bangladesh and Nepal in Bangalore. 10:31 Brought into Bangalore. Yes. 10:33 Okay. 10:34 They don't know each other 10:36 and they're all recruited in the same way. 10:39 You know, somebody marries them, 10:41 somebody promises them a job, 10:42 brings them across the border, puts them on a train, 10:46 tells them they're going for a job in a massage parlor, 10:48 beauty parlor, as a housemaid, 10:51 and they end up in this building. 10:54 So the city of Bangalore, 10:55 it's an absolutely beautiful city. 10:57 It's an IT hub, it's a very, 11:00 what I noticed as a visitor anyway 11:02 coming to visit your city of Bangalore, 11:04 it's got a beautiful mix of modern, 11:07 with the IT industry, 11:08 and rich history and a lovely climate. 11:11 It's absolutely a wonderful place. 11:14 So in that city, how do you then, 11:17 before you make these raids, 11:18 how do you learn and work to find out 11:21 where these brothels are? 11:22 How do you make those inroads before you have a rescue? 11:26 We have them working to develop these contacts. 11:30 Like you said, on the surface it is a beautiful city. 11:34 We don't have a red-light district unlike, 11:37 you know, Mumbai and Calcutta, they have areas where, 11:40 you know, these girls are being taken 11:42 and where sex is offered, 11:43 but Bangalore doesn't have that. 11:46 It used to be more of a pensioners paradise 11:49 till it became an IT city. 11:50 Okay. 11:51 So everything is very hidden, 11:54 which makes it more difficult for us 11:55 because we have to search, we really have to look out 11:59 for places where these girls are being hidden, 12:01 where they're brought. 12:02 So we have a team of investigators 12:06 whose job is to befriend the underworld, 12:09 you know, befriend pimps, befriend auto rickshaw drivers 12:13 who will transport these girls, 12:15 befriend people that work in the really shady hotels 12:21 where the girls are pimped often. 12:24 And we sometimes go in as customers and clients, 12:27 sometimes as pimps ourselves 12:30 to try and access the information 12:32 as to where these girls are being held. 12:34 And once we have that information 12:36 and we know for sure 12:37 that in this building trafficking is-- 12:40 You know, a trafficked girl is being held 12:42 or a brothel is being run, 12:44 then we go to the police with that information. 12:46 Completely chartered out plan of rescue 12:50 including escape routes, entry, 12:53 number of people inside the building, 12:55 the number of girls, 12:57 their approximate ages, as much of-- 13:00 as much information as we can. 13:02 Because before we go into the rescue, 13:05 we're not gonna get another opportunity 13:07 or the police can't go in before the rescue 13:10 because there will be an alert. 13:12 So you sort of have one chance to do it right 13:16 and because there are no second chances? 13:18 Yes. Yes. 13:21 Now as you just heard Anita share, 13:23 the problem of trafficking is rampant in India. 13:27 The dangers involved in this mission 13:29 to save the young girls from trafficking are many. 13:32 When we come back we will hear from Anita 13:34 just how Asian Aid is helping her 13:37 and her team with the rescue operations. 13:39 And we'll see how we all can play a role 13:42 in rehabilitating these girls who are rescued. 13:58 My wife Angela and I are here in Andhra Pradesh, India, 14:01 visiting some of the Asian Aid projects 14:03 to see for ourselves 14:05 how the work that is being done here is transforming lives, 14:08 especially the lives of orphaned children 14:11 and abandoned children, 14:12 children from the tribal communities. 14:15 And we've discovered that because of sponsors like you, 14:17 they now have a place that they can call home, 14:20 they have wonderful clothing, nutritious food, 14:22 and they are being prepared to propel themselves 14:26 into the future for a promising career. 14:28 But above all that, because of sponsors like you, 14:31 they now have hope, hope for a better future. 14:48 So, Anita, after you go in, you and your team, 14:52 and you actually go in on these raids yourself personally, 14:55 these girls, you work with them for little while, 14:58 then what's the next step? 14:59 How do they transition from that life 15:03 back to somewhat a regular life? 15:06 Once we finish the rescues, 15:08 we take them to the police station 15:11 for a little bit where their stories are taken, 15:14 their photos are taken, 15:16 and then we have to take them to a government shelter 15:20 according to the law. 15:22 The first place after their rescue 15:24 has to be the government shelter. 15:26 And these are basically sets of buildings with staff, 15:31 but they're not specific to trafficked victims. 15:34 So you can have abandoned girls there, 15:37 you can have a pregnant mother there, 15:40 you know, pre-marital, 15:42 you can have someone who has lost their family, 15:46 you can have somebody who's lost, 15:49 got off a train at the wrong stop, 15:51 so just a mixed group of people inside that place 15:54 and these girls are taken to that place. 15:56 Usually, we do the rescues quite late at night-- 16:00 For that surprise factor. Yeah. Yes. 16:03 And so between about 2 or 3 A.M., 16:05 we end up in this place. 16:07 So the girls are, you know, there are about three gates 16:13 before you get inside the place. 16:14 It's almost like a jail. It looks like that. It's-- 16:18 Sounds intimidating. It is. 16:19 Then once there, 16:22 the girl's case has to come up for hearing 16:25 and we have to find out their backgrounds. 16:29 Many times, because it's a government run shelter, 16:33 the traffickers can end up coming right there. 16:35 Really? Yeah. 16:37 They pose as an aunt, a mother, a sister, a brother, 16:41 the only relative in that place. 16:43 And because they have so many cases 16:46 and so many people turning up, they don't check credentials. 16:52 And so they can turn up with, you know, a false document 16:57 and we have had many such ones. 16:59 And they can release the girl or they get to see the girl, 17:02 intimidate her more 17:03 or promise to get them out of that place 17:06 because by then, the girls really want 17:07 to get out of that place, 17:08 they don't speak the local language, 17:10 the food is not something that they like. 17:13 Government issued food essentially. 17:15 And then many times they have told us, 17:17 there are lice in the food or lice in the coffee. 17:19 Oh, my. 17:21 You know, yeah and the others are really mean to them 17:23 because they find out that they have been involved in sex, 17:26 commercial sex, and they label them, 17:29 the stigma of being in that place. 17:32 You know, you just want to get out. 17:34 They are desperate to get out. 17:35 Many times these girls have tried to cut their wrists 17:38 and we get a call to say, 17:40 "Please come and take the girls you rescued out of this place 17:42 because they're disturbing everybody else." 17:45 And you go there and they say 17:46 "We just want to go out of this place. 17:48 The brothel was better." You know, so harsh. 17:50 Sounds horrible. So harsh. 17:52 How many days or how much time 17:54 are they in this place generally? 17:56 Well, it can be anything 17:58 between two months to two years. 18:00 Oh, wow. 18:02 Are they cared for, 18:03 are their physical needs, I mean-- 18:04 Oh, yes. 18:06 I mean, I hate to be very-- I hate to talk about it, 18:10 but the life they were living in the brothel, 18:12 they had a lot of physical injuries I assume. 18:16 Obviously, emotional and mental, 18:18 are those things addressed at all in the government home? 18:22 The government does provide a shelter, so there is food. 18:26 There is a sense of-- 18:29 They have water and clothes and people talk to them, 18:33 but they're abused sometimes in different ways. 18:36 There's a lot of sexual abuse 18:37 that happens within those shelters 18:39 especially to the younger children. 18:42 We did a rescue of boys who had been trafficked 18:45 from Bihar to Bangalore for labor 18:49 and some of these boys were aged nine to twelve. 18:52 And when we visited about a week later, 18:55 a couple of them said, they didn't like 18:58 what older boys were doing to them, 19:00 which is implying sexual abuse inside a government shelter 19:04 that is meant to be a protective place. 19:07 It sounds like it's taking them from a bad situation 19:12 and putting them in a so-so situation 19:15 and in that specific case, a worse situation. 19:18 It's true. 19:19 So it doesn't sound like it's an answer, 19:21 but you also don't have a choice. 19:23 Yes. 19:25 So, Anita, you are Christian, 19:29 what difference would it make to be able to take these girls 19:32 and put them in a Christian facility 19:35 where they were nurtured and cared for specifically? 19:39 Now, Jean, you are talking about a vision 19:41 that I have for this, for these girls, 19:44 every girl who is rescued. 19:46 You know, the sense of hopelessness 19:48 inside that place when we walk into those brothels 19:50 or when we go into those places 19:53 where they are being forced to hide or to overwork, 19:58 there is just a deep sense of despair 20:02 and a darkness that is so obvious to us. 20:05 And when we get them out of that place 20:07 what we want to give them to replace that 20:10 is the sense of hope that God cares about them, 20:13 that there is a future that He can build, 20:16 and that He can restore, 20:17 and that no matter what has happened to them, 20:20 they are still made in the image of God 20:22 and nobody can destroy that. 20:24 And nothing can, nothing can mar that. 20:28 But you see they've never been told that 20:31 they've been so abused inside that place 20:34 that they, they couldn't care about themselves. 20:37 So we in our home will have that opportunity 20:42 right from the start to just love on them, 20:45 to be able to give them that sense of hope 20:49 that they need not fear anymore, 20:51 they're not in a, they're not in a place 20:53 that anyone's gonna abuse them. 20:55 In fact, they're gonna receive the opposite, 20:57 that there will be a sense of freedom within that place 21:02 where they can make choices 21:03 and that those choices will be guided 21:07 by good counseling and that they will have options 21:10 whether they learn a new trade 21:12 or whether they go back to visit family. 21:15 It will all be under, 21:17 under careful observation and supervision 21:19 to ensure that the best happens for these girls. 21:23 I think part of the story that you tell 21:26 that really breaks my heart 21:28 is when you share how these girls 21:30 once they are rescued some of them, 21:33 a certain percentage of them do go back to that way of life 21:37 because of the shame, because they don't feel an option. 21:41 Have you seen the difference 21:44 that Christ makes for the girls? 21:46 Is that the difference that keeps them 21:49 from going back to their lifestyle? 21:51 I think it is the main difference, Jean. 21:54 I mean, to be able to pray with the girls 21:57 and we do pray with the girls. 21:59 You know that I told you, we get some private time 22:02 either at the police station or at the brothel 22:04 before we take them to the government shelter. 22:06 We almost always talk to them about God and pray with them 22:10 because that's the only private time 22:13 we'll get before we are under supervised visits 22:17 in the government shelter. 22:18 But if we had our home, we can pray with them every day, 22:22 we can pray with them and counsel them, 22:23 and tell them about our God who loves them, 22:26 and help them to come to terms with that. 22:28 I mean, many of them ask us, 22:30 "Why do you want to do this for us? 22:33 You know, why would you be here?" 22:34 Because I always tell them, "I'm a mother myself. 22:37 You know, I have two daughters, 22:39 I know what it feels like to be inside this place 22:43 wondering what's gonna happen next." 22:45 And they always say, "Why do you take this risk?" 22:48 And I tell them, 22:49 "It's because God has called some of us to these things 22:53 and because it's for God who took a risk for us. 22:56 I mean, that He came for us 22:58 that we might have a life that is free." 23:00 And, you know, they are so open to listening to the gospel, 23:05 to knowing, but the most important thing, Jean, 23:09 is for them to see the gospel in action 23:12 and that's what we manage to do there. 23:14 Okay. 23:15 But what drives you each and every day to continue 23:19 to put your own personal life in danger? 23:22 You're on the frontlines doing this 23:24 and I imagine your husband worries. 23:27 What keeps you going to do this? 23:31 I think this, the call that God had on my life 23:34 and which I realized about 10 years ago 23:37 when I went out on my first rescue mission, 23:40 just the thought of these girls out there and that, 23:46 you know, something might happen to them, 23:47 that they may never hear about our God 23:50 who loves them. 23:52 Being an Indian women myself, a mother of daughters 23:56 just wanting to do the best that we can for these girls. 24:01 It's funny, I never, I never was a brave 24:03 or courageous person growing up. 24:05 In fact, I was very timid. I can't believe it. 24:07 Very timid, very shy. 24:08 Really? Yeah. 24:10 I hated standing up in front of anything, but-- 24:13 And I still am very afraid before we go on a rescue. 24:16 Everybody knows that I have my private time, 24:19 but when we finish the prayer 24:21 before the raiding team is out of the door, 24:26 I know that God has gone before us 24:28 and He's already there. 24:29 I mean, there are times, Jean, 24:31 that we search the building for the girls 24:34 and we just don't know where they've hidden them. 24:37 And somehow God shows us where that hidden place is, 24:41 whether it's, you know, a hole in the wall 24:44 that has been sealed up 24:46 and we have to break through that 24:47 or whether it's a reception, a hotel reception desk 24:52 and you open the drawer and it's a staircase. 24:54 Really? Wow. 24:55 Into a cellar where the girls have been pushed. 24:58 It is God because, you know, none of us 25:00 have had any kind of investigative training. 25:03 And when God shows up there, we know that we keep going on. 25:08 He is going before you. Yes. 25:10 And you are trusting in Him. Yes. 25:12 Well, I have a hard time imagining you 25:14 as a timid young girl. 25:16 You're a great inspiration to myself 25:19 and many who've met you, I know you are. 25:22 Well, I just praise God 25:23 that you and Operation Child Rescue are doing 25:27 what you are doing, Anita, 25:28 that you are facing these problems, 25:30 that you're there dealing with it. 25:33 You know, it's really hard for those of us 25:36 who don't see it with our own eyes 25:38 to really comprehend the level of danger, 25:44 the horrors that these children go through, 25:46 but I just thank you for what you're doing, 25:49 for the ministry that you have. 25:51 And I'm just wondering if we can pray together? 25:53 Yes, please. Please. 25:56 Dear God in heaven, 25:57 You see what's happening in India. 26:00 You see into the lives of the young women 26:04 who are vulnerable in the rural areas. 26:06 And, Lord, You see the horrors more than we can even imagine. 26:09 But, Father, we love You and we know 26:12 that You created each of us 26:13 and that You love us each individually, 26:16 that You created each of us for a purpose. 26:18 Father, I ask that You will go with Anita and her team 26:21 as they continue to rescue these vulnerable people, 26:25 these children, these young men, 26:27 these young women from the dangers 26:29 that they find themselves in. 26:31 Father, protect them and may Your light, 26:34 Lord, change their lives for eternity. 26:38 Lord, we place Anita and her team in Your care. 26:42 We ask for Your grace 26:44 and Your hand over this process. 26:45 In Jesus name, amen. Amen. 26:48 Anita, it's always a please visiting with you. 26:50 Thank you. Thank you, Jean. 26:56 Current estimates tell us 26:57 that more than 1.2 million children 27:00 are caught up in human trafficking in India alone. 27:04 The numbers are truly staggering, 27:06 but thanks to people like Anita 27:08 and to programs like Operation Child Rescue 27:11 these young girls and boys can be rescued 27:15 and rehabilitated. 27:16 Now you and I can play a vital role 27:18 in helping Asian Aid in its rescue efforts. 27:21 We at the Voice of Prophecy have partnered 27:24 with Asian Aid to build a rehabilitation home 27:27 in Bangalore, India. 27:28 We are partnering with Anita to provide a safe place 27:32 where young girls can be given hope, healing, 27:34 and to learn new skills all in a Christian environment. 27:38 So please pray for Anita and for her team in India. 27:42 And if you would like to support 27:44 or to get more information on Operation Child Rescue 27:47 please contact Asian Aid. 27:49 Thank you for watching and God bless. |
Revised 2016-02-11