Participants:
Series Code: HIM
Program Code: HIM000212A
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00:07 Child Impact International is an organization giving hope,
00:11 previously called Asian Aid. 00:13 Child Impact International is an organization 00:15 fostering permanent positive change 00:18 in the lives of disadvantaged children and their communities. 00:21 Child Impact is committed to making a difference 00:24 in the lives of children and those who are in need. 00:27 Serving communities in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, 00:30 Sri Lanka, Myanmar, 00:32 and will soon expand to other countries. 00:34 For the last 50 years, 00:36 Child Impact has invested in the futures of people 00:39 and their investment has proven infinite returns. 00:42 Driven by the dedication 00:43 to helping those who have the least, 00:45 Child Impact is an organization 00:47 focused on the welfare of children, 00:49 implementing diverse development projects 00:52 and sponsoring thousands of children. 00:54 Their outreach spans from child rescue operations 00:57 to providing an education for orphans, 00:59 deaf, and the blind children, 01:01 giving them a sense of place, a home. 01:04 But above all, 01:05 Child Impact is an organization giving hope, 01:08 giving hope to children, giving hope to communities, 01:11 giving hope to the ones who needed the most. 01:14 This is Hope In Motion. 01:28 A couple of years ago, Jean Boonstra, 01:31 associate speaker of Voice of Prophecy 01:33 visited India with Child Impact International. 01:36 Jean and her family have been privileged 01:38 to sponsor a girl through Child Impact. 01:41 It has been a blessing for Jean and her family 01:43 to be able to make a difference in her life. 01:51 During her trip to India, 01:52 Jean met some amazing people 01:54 who are the driving force behind Child Impact's mission 01:57 to reach out to those in need. 01:59 She met with Anita, 02:00 who was in charge of Child Impact's Operation 02:03 Child Rescue program in India. 02:05 Operation Child Rescue is a program 02:07 that rescues and rehabilitates girls 02:10 who are trafficked and sold as prostitutes 02:12 in the sex industry. 02:14 Jean got to talk to Anita and she shared with her 02:16 the challenges and the dangers 02:18 that she and her team face in rescuing these girls. 02:23 Anita, it's nice to see you again. 02:25 We met a little while ago, 02:27 and it's wonderful to visit with you again. 02:30 You're the director of Operation Child Rescue 02:33 in India, 02:34 can you tell me a little bit, 02:36 just briefly what that organization is all about? 02:39 Well, Jean, it's lovely to meet you again. 02:42 As the name suggests, 02:43 Operation Rescue is about rescuing women, 02:46 children, babies, 02:48 who have been subjected to the worst kind of abuse 02:51 and who have been trafficked for different reasons. 02:55 It could be children 02:56 who are being forced to beg on the streets 02:58 or it could be children who are being forced 03:01 to work in hazardous industries like bad manufacturing, 03:06 basically working long hours and against their will 03:10 or it could be girls and women 03:12 who are traffic to the worst of the brothels 03:15 locked inside and forced to see customers 03:18 every day against their will. 03:21 And this is a global issue 03:24 but you are headquartered in Bangalore, India. 03:28 Tell me how long have you been doing this work 03:30 yourself personally? 03:32 Well, it started about 10 years ago. 03:33 So 10 years is a good time to say, 03:35 I have been doing this work. 03:38 We started off basically 03:39 looking at the whole issue of trafficking 03:42 and whether it existed in Bangalore 03:45 and what were children being trafficked for 03:48 and we've ended up now doing rescues 03:50 with the police 03:52 and finding rehabilitation options 03:55 for those whom we rescue. 03:57 We also do a little bit of prevention 04:00 in areas where we find more children 04:02 going missing or more girls being recruited for jobs 04:05 to prevent that from happening. 04:09 You know, it's hard to hear the stories 04:12 of what you're doing because you're dealing 04:14 with some really, really sad situations. 04:18 Children are in danger, young women are in danger. 04:21 Let's talk for a minute about the young girls, 04:24 they are recruited from rural areas typically, 04:27 tell us a little bit about how did they get recruited 04:30 and what age are these girls? 04:32 Well, when we first started work, 04:34 and when we first started rescues, the girls were... 04:37 The average age was about 17. 04:40 But today, the girls are much younger, 04:43 and the average age is close to 14. 04:46 So you know, really young girls 04:49 being recruited out of schools even, 04:53 you asked me about why they get recruited? 04:56 Well, it's a combination of a number of factors, 04:59 poverty being the number one factor 05:02 that makes them vulnerable to this. 05:04 So they are very poor. 05:06 They don't know about the issue of trafficking. 05:10 Usually they don't have a skill and so they can't get jobs, 05:14 or they're in school 05:15 but drop out for different reasons, 05:17 either to look after a sibling, or a parent not being well, 05:21 or the school just not being important enough for them 05:25 to complete education 05:27 and so they're pulled out of school to get married. 05:29 And it's at this time that the traffickers 05:32 prey on these vulnerabilities. 05:34 You know, the girl is at home, 05:36 or the girl is looking for a job, 05:39 or the girl just wants to get out 05:41 of this poverty situation, 05:43 and they prey on this 05:44 and will go in and recruit them. 05:46 Sometimes they send in people in, 05:48 you know, fall in love with them 05:50 and promise a better life to marry them. 05:53 Sometimes they offer them jobs, 05:55 they will come in and say we will get you a job. 05:58 And because they're so naive 06:01 and have no knowledge of what this is, 06:03 they will go with them. 06:05 But, of course, the job doesn't exist 06:06 on the other side or it exists in a much, 06:08 much worse way than they would have ever thought. 06:11 And sometimes when they take babies, 06:14 they kidnap them. 06:16 So the younger children... 06:17 So just snatched from their mothers 06:19 or their homes? 06:21 Yes, that's from hospitals even. 06:22 You know, they've taken babies, kidnap babies from hospitals 06:25 or they take babies from orphanages 06:29 or young children 06:31 and they will sell them to the begging syndicates. 06:33 Okay. 06:34 That put these children out on the street. 06:36 And they have to bring in a certain amount of money 06:39 every day. 06:41 So these young girls 06:43 are willing to take sort of a risk 06:45 because they're vulnerable, 06:47 they're a little bit naive to the danger. 06:50 They're looking to help their family 06:52 and or to support themselves, 06:54 a number of factors. 06:56 As you go in and you actually rescue girls 06:59 from these brothels, 07:01 just walk us through a little bit 07:02 how that process works? 07:07 I have learned over the years 07:10 not to breakdown to react in the right ways. 07:13 My first time inside a brothel, I was terrified 07:16 because I didn't expect what we saw. 07:19 You know, usually these places are, 07:21 they select places that are easy hiding places, 07:26 so you have number of rooms inside the main entrance. 07:29 If it's a house or a building, 07:31 it will have a number of rooms 07:33 and individual rooms 07:35 that are used for commercial sex. 07:38 So when we enter these places, 07:40 we often have to bust the front door 07:42 or we have to enter in without them knowing it. 07:45 So they're not alerted to it. Okay. 07:48 We usually have a team of about 10 or 12 07:51 including a few police. 07:53 We run inside the place, 07:55 we're always looking to grab the girls 07:57 before they're hidden or before they're forced 07:59 into some hiding place. 08:02 So surprise is key? 08:04 Surprise is key, safety for ourselves. 08:07 We're looking out for an escape route 08:10 in case something goes wrong, 08:12 and we all are just stuck inside that place. 08:15 The girls themselves are taken by surprise. 08:19 Oftentimes they're scared, they will cry, 08:22 there's a lot of drama that happens 08:25 inside that the police are shouting, 08:26 the traffickers are trying to get out, 08:28 escape, you know, 08:29 they're trying to jump out of some place. 08:32 And then the girls themselves, 08:34 you know, they're crying, wondering what's gonna happen. 08:38 At that point, we can't say that they are happy to see us 08:41 because they don't know who we are. 08:43 Are they questioning 08:45 that you're there to help them some often times? 08:47 Yes. Yes. Okay. 08:49 But the moment that initial drama is over, 08:52 then we get some quiet time 08:54 to tell them who we are, and why we're there, 08:58 and that we really are interested 09:00 in their long term future. 09:02 So it's not about now, it's about the future, 09:05 and that we want to see them out of this life. 09:07 And many of them will breakdown 09:09 and cry and tell you the reason why they're there. 09:12 You know, they will say, we were so poor, 09:14 so naive, we didn't know, we were promised a job. 09:17 And the story is almost the same 09:20 again and again and again. 09:21 Over and over again. 09:23 Yeah. It's... 09:24 You wonder how could people be like this when... 09:26 But you'd realize that 09:28 they are all from different places, 09:29 even if they were, say, from Bangladesh 09:31 and we're seeing increasing number of girls 09:33 from Bangladesh and Nepal in Bangalore. 09:36 Brought into Bangalore. 09:37 Yes. Okay. 09:39 They don't know each other 09:40 and they're all recruited in the same way. 09:44 You know, somebody marries them, 09:45 somebody promises them a job, brings them across the border, 09:48 puts them on a train, 09:50 tells them they're going for a job in a massage parlor, 09:53 beauty parlor, as a housemaid, 09:55 and they end up in this building. 09:58 So the city of Bangalore, 10:00 it's an absolutely beautiful city. 10:02 It's an IT hub, it's a very, 10:04 what I noticed as a visitor 10:06 anyway coming to visit your city of Bangalore. 10:08 It's got a beautiful mix of modern, 10:11 with the IT industry, and rich history 10:14 and a lovely climate. 10:16 It's absolutely a wonderful place. 10:18 So in that city, 10:20 how do you then, before you make these raids, 10:22 how do you learn and work 10:25 to find out where these brothels are? 10:27 How do you make those inroads before you have a rescue? 10:31 We have them working to develop these contacts. 10:34 Like you said, on the surface it is a beautiful city. 10:38 We don't have a red-light district 10:40 unlike, you know, Mumbai and Calcutta, 10:42 they have areas where, you know, 10:44 these girls are being taken and where sex is offered, 10:48 but Bangalore doesn't have that. 10:51 It used to be more of a pensioners paradise 10:53 till it became an IT city. 10:54 Okay. 10:56 So everything is very hidden, 10:58 which makes it more difficult for us 11:00 because we have to search, 11:01 we really have to look out 11:03 for places where these girls are being hidden, 11:05 where they're brought in. 11:06 So we have a team of investigators 11:10 whose job is to befriend the underworld, 11:13 you know, befriend pimps, 11:15 befriend auto rickshaw drivers who will transport these girls, 11:19 befriend people 11:22 that work in the really shady hotels 11:25 where the girls are pimped often. 11:28 And we sometimes go in as customers and clients, 11:32 sometimes as pimps ourselves 11:34 to try and access the information 11:36 as to where these girls are being held. 11:39 And once we have that information 11:40 and we know for sure that in this building 11:43 trafficking is held... 11:45 You know, a trafficked girl is being held 11:46 or a brothel is being run, 11:48 then we go to the police with that information. 11:50 Completely chartered out plan of rescue 11:54 including escape routes, entry, 11:57 number of people inside the building, 12:00 the number of girls, their approximate ages, 12:03 as much of... 12:04 As much information as we can. 12:06 Because before we go into the rescue, 12:09 we're not gonna get another opportunity 12:11 or the police can't go in before the rescue 12:15 because there will be an alert. 12:17 So you sort of have one chance to do it right 12:20 and because there are no second chances? 12:22 Yes. Yes. 12:27 Current estimates tell us that more than 1.2 million children 12:31 are caught up in human trafficking 12:33 in India alone. 12:34 The numbers are truly staggering, 12:37 but thanks to people like Anita 12:38 and programs like Operation Child Rescue, 12:41 these young girls and boys 12:43 can be rescued and rehabilitated. 12:45 You can play a vital role 12:47 in helping Child Impact International 12:49 in its rescue efforts. 12:50 Voice of Prophecy has partnered with Child Impact 12:53 to build a rehabilitation home in Bangalore, India, 12:56 to provide a safe place 12:58 where young girls can be given hope, 12:59 healing, 13:01 and to learn new skills all in a Christian environment. 13:04 Please pray for Anita and her team in India. 13:07 And if you would like to help or get more information 13:09 on Operation Child Rescue, 13:11 please contact Child Impact International. 13:22 I just got a letter from our sponsored daughter Sheila. 13:25 I've got to tell you, 13:26 there is nothing like getting one of these letters. 13:28 Our family has been able to sponsor her 13:30 through Child Impact International. 13:32 Because of that, 13:34 she's got a great place to live. 13:35 She's got good food. 13:37 She's got great clothing. 13:38 Best of all, 13:40 I now found out she's in college. 13:41 She's in nursing school. 13:43 There's nothing like getting a letter like this. 13:46 You need to start getting these letters too. 13:49 Listen, through Child Impact, 13:50 you can make a huge difference in the life of a child, 13:54 and I promise you, 13:55 it's going to make a huge difference 13:57 in your life too. |
Revised 2019-06-10