Club 2:
Reporting Jessica L.,
Team: Rachelle, Sarah, Valerie
This week we visited the clubs on Wednesday night, Christmas Eve Eve.
We had some wonderful ladies provide a homemade, delicious Christmas dinner!
Thank you ladies for all your help and support in this ministry! We also packed up our cars with Christmas presents galore for the men and ladies at the clubs plus for their kids This year we were able to provide blankets, baked goods, a bracelet, and a Bible for the ladies.
For the men, we had socks, after shave, Axe deodorant, sunflower seeds, baked goods, and a Bible. For the kids we were blessed for several different items from books, coloring books, crayons, stuffed animals, and so forth. This was a fun and exciting night to be Santa’s elves to these men and ladies. Thanks again to all who helped provide Christmas for this group, it is very much appreciated. After we arrived and got the food organized, Sarah and I walked over to one of the clubs to invite the girls to come over for some food and the bartender was on the phone. We walked back over later to talk to the bartender for a little while. We told her we had all the fixin’s and asked if she wanted a plate. She had already ordered dinner but we asked if she wanted a to go box to take home, she decided that she would rather eat with us and save her order to take home. So we gathered her some food and delivered the presents to the girls. They were all so appreciative of the gifts. After we were done visiting with those girls we went back to help Rachelle and Valerie with the handing out more presents to all the other girls. As we handed the gifts out to the girls, one of them B looked at us and said can I open it now? She was so excited. Later, B walked up to us and asked if we would help her put on her bracelet. We were able to provide the girls with a Psalm 23 bracelet which has a insert explaining the colors and how they apply to the verse. It was so cool to see she was excited to put on the bracelet. I pray the bracelet will bring up more conversations with these girls in the future. Again thank you all for your support in this ministry and providing Christmas to these people, they all were so appreciative and it was wonderful to see so many happy faces. As we walked out, one of the girls I’d never seen before walked up to all of us and gave us all hugs. It’s great to see the response that we did
tonight.
To read more about Scarlet Hope, please see click here.
Here is another update from our partner Scarlet Hope, and what they are doing to reach out to those enslaved by the sex industry.
Mathew 1:21 “She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is He who shall save his people from their sins”
This was our 2nd Christmas in the clubs and God just keeps bringing forth his Love and Power! The broken and ones deemed unlovely cry out for what God sent to seek and save the lost! For he did not send his son for the righteous but for the broken! We are only a mere small portion of the body that God used to bring celebration of the birth of Jesus to these women and men in the clubs. We can’t thank you each enough for your prayers, donations and support that made it possible to bring gifts of Love and a meal to our friends in the clubs this Christmas Season.
Thank you and Many Blessings, Loving Him, Rachelle Starr
Club 1 Hannah D. Reporting
Team: Amy, Brittani, and Kamille
Thank you Lord for giving us Jesus so we can be in a relationship with you. What an incredible Evening! It was a celebration of Christmas and our love for the girls on Wednesday night. We went to the club with cars FULL to the brim with food and presents for our precious ladies. We dinned on Honey glazed ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrot sulfate, Corn pudding, coffee and dessert! The love and prayers that go into the food that is prepared for these women blows me away. All the girls presents were packed with a bible, a blanket, a Psalms 23 bracelet, and some yummy baked goods! Every girl got a present and every staff member got a stalking. The women who had children got presents for their kids too.
On this night we stayed at the club for over 2 hours! We just had so many awesome conversations one after another with new and old friends that we’ve met over the past year. A lot of the staff kept speaking of how “they could not believe that we’ve been coming faithfully every week for the past year to the club!” They spoke about last Christmas when we came and brought presents too.” They are all so shocked by what we (God) does every week!
Kamille and I had had a very interesting conversation with a patron in the hallway. He refused to tell us his name. These are always interesting conversations. We had offered to make a plate of food for a dancer that was sitting next to this patron on the bar side of the club. Well, when Kamille and I went back to make her a plate, the guy fallowed us! He stopped us in the hallway and the first two things out of his mouth were “You guys Church ladies?” You do know that what you are doing here for these women is very strange right??!” Kamille spoke to him for a bit about why we do what we do and explained a little about our church. This guy was sadly very lost and empty. He first said he came to the club because, as he said,” it’s healthy to have fantasies.” Then he went on to tell us he was engaged, Then he went on to explain to us that he knew God and he use to go to a church, but the church turned their back on him and hes fiancé because he is black and she is white. He was obviously very hurt by the church. He told us that he does not know of one church that would ever do what we were doing! Please pray for the seed that was planted with this guy. That God would just intervene in his life. I am so tired of Satan’s control over these women and these men and how he just want to kill their souls and joy! He is in the world But GOD, has overcome the world!!!
One new dancer came up to me with her bracelet already on and said” Thank you ladies so much for what you do! She went on to say how she was so excited when she saw the Bible in there because she had lost hers awhile ago and really wanted to start reading the word again! Praise God!
I met another new dancer named M who is unfortunately another sad story that I hear all too often. M is 21 and has a 14 month old baby boy at home. She’s a single mom. She dropped out of high school and ran away from home when she was 16. Then she got pregnant and her boyfriend left her right after that. I got to talk for quite some time about what she wants to be doing with her life and she explained how she wants to go to school. I gave M a present and a present for her son and she just started tearing up and hugged me for what felt like 10 minutes! It breaks my heart to see the lives that these women have been through. They are so valuable to God and to us and I am just so humbled for every opportunity we get to serve them! Thank you to everyone who donated their time and love into serving these women! God is tearing down walls and bringing them back to Him!
Brittani C, Report
Wednesday night was incredible. That’s really the only way to describe it. First the girls were so psyched about all the food we brought, it was a feast!!! One girl even ordered pizza and put it in the back for later and came and got two plates! It was not only crazy delicious, but it was such a wide variety. The girls loved it. You could tell they had no idea we had anything else for them and they weren’t expecting anything. When I was asking some of the girls if they had any kids and if they were a boy or girl.. you could see their curiosity peak and them begin to get excited. They were saying “why?! What are you girls doing?!?” When we got the gifts out and gave them to the girls, and to them for their kids, their faces and reactions were priceless. One girl almost cried, and just about all of them thanked us several times. I can honestly say I’m not sure my heart has ever been so filled before on Christmas than it was that night. I truly saw God and the heart that he sees in these girls through His eyes. It was incredible. I actually didn’t even sleep that night because I couldn’t stop thinking about how excited they were and some of the conversations I had!
SK- I met SK last night in the club. I hadn’t seen her before but that’s not saying much because I’ve only been going for a while. When we started talking though, this was only her second night there. She’d come from another club in Louisville where she didn’t get along with the girls so she transferred. She is 18. After talking for a while I discovered she has been in foster care since she was 15. Hearing her say that I thought about how hard being 15 was… let alone having to go into foster care. It killed me. She said she resubmitted herself after she was 18 so they’d pay for her schooling. She goes to school for Social Work. She has a little boy and he is currently in foster care because her son’s father isn’t supposed to be around the baby and she let him watch him one night while she worked, the state took him. SK was really upset about this, but was excited because she got to see him on Christmas. When we gave her his gift she was excited to bring it to him. I talked to her on Christmas Eve and wished her a merry Christmas, and she kept saying “thanks again for the gifts”. She’s a sweetheart.
IV- I had never met IV before either, but she actually isn’t new. She just doesn’t work very often so I’d never encountered her. Plus it was a Wed night we went to the club opposed to a Thurs so we had a diff crew. She was very chatty! She was actually talking with Amy when I walked up, and ended up telling us we should all hang out because she doesn’t have any good friends that are good influences on her. She actually said “when I come in here this is this… but when I leave… I’m a totally different person and I don’t like to hang out with these girls” I didn’t really know what to say to that but Amy and I assured her we would all hang out soon!! I talked to her too on Christmas Eve and she was excited to hear from me, and we said we’d talk again soon to make plans to hang out.
To read more about Scarlet Hope, please see click here.
Proceeds from the Resc\You shirt will go directly toward funding a scholarship fund for the children of sex workers.
“Trafficking is essentially modern day slavery, and currently there are 27 million people in slavery.”
“The average age of entry for prostitution for girls and boys ranges from 11-14″
“Within the first 48 hours of being on the street, 1 in 3 children are lured into prostitution”
The facts and statistics are endless. We have the choice to respond or grow numb to the figures.
The vision behind this effort began when five friends met while working with Faceless International in the slums of Kolkata, India. They initially traveled to become more aware of the underbelly of the human trafficking world, but never expected to be changed in such a radical way and feel the conviction to respond.
During this trip they were exposed to more than facts and saw the human side of sex trafficking. Rather than reading the statistics from the comfort of their homes, they personally engaged the mothers and children in bondage by the sex trade. They met children who had spent their entire lives in brothels and whose future of becoming a sex worker was all but decided for them. They met mothers who tried to give their children away with the hope that it would give their baby some kind of future.
It spurned a conviction that would simply not rest until action took place.
Recognizing that education has the ability to enable change, the goal is to provide people who are survivors of trafficking an education, so they can move forth into their own communities and change the world.
In addition to this, funding advanced education will enable the children an opportunity to get away from the environment of the brothel. We want these children to know that they are loved.
We are partnering with Resc\You & Faceless International with the hopes of giving these same children the opportunity to create, dream, and change the communities in which they live.
When you purchase this shirt, you are opening doors to conversation on trafficking. You are helping educate yourself and others through discussion. You are helping a child in the Red Light District of Kolkata, India to go to school.
Photography courtesy of J*Grace.
To read more about Resc\You please see the following blog entries:
It’s been a great year for Spendyourself, and without all of you, this would still be nothing more than a dream.
As our way to give you all a big THANK YOU for all of your support over the last year, we’ve decided to give two people free shirts for a year!
What exactly does this mean? For each new shirt project we create over the next year, Spendyourself will be shipping you your very own shirt, and it’s all free.
In conjunction with the Resc/You project, we’ve come up with several different ways for you to enter the contest and raise awareness for human trafficking at the same time. Do as many of the following as you like and you’ll get an entry for each one!
The contest ends November 30th… so start spreading the word!
Ways to enter:
1 . Leave a comment on our blog on human trafficking (facts, useful links, etc.)
2. Retweet the following message: Win free clothes for a year! http://tiny.cc/d8m6V @spendyourself
3. Send us a picture of you wearing any Spendyourself shirt: jessica@spendyourself.net
4. Buy any Spendyourself shirt (counts as two entries)
5. Put a link to spendyourself.net on your blog and email us to let us know
6. Visit us at the GMHC, 11/12 – 11/14
7.Tell someone the story behind your Spendyourself shirt and email us
8. Make this your profile picture for a day or more, and post it on the Spendyourself Facebook page
9. Perform any random act of kindness, just let us know!
Questions? lee@spendyourself.net
The second part of our series that takes an honest look behind the scenes into what actually happens within the confines of a strip club. In case you missed the first entry, it can be found here.
Today’s entry takes a look at the club from a manager’s perspective. This portion is lengthy, but is the one that I found most interesting.
-Lee
The Manager’s Role
As far as female employees in adult entertainment nightclubs, everyone you hire you treat as a potential dancer. It really doesn’t matter if she’s hired as a waitress, hostess, or even a bartender.
First, you must make the girl feel at home in an environment that is so abnormal that most people have to be made comfortable. In fact, you could almost say they have to be “hardened’ to the club life. This is easily accomplished by working there as many hours as possible and by having all of the staff treat them as if they were long lost friends. It’s important for the management to do this also.
Second, after a few weeks, because the girl is now your friend, as a manager you bring up how short you are on girls that night or how short the amateur contestants are. You ask them to please help, that they don’t need to take their clothes off, but the club just needs an extra body. Usually, they happily agree to do this. You then have them change into dancing attire, usually a skimpy dress, a teddy, g-string or a t-bar (which is a very small pair of panties). Often, the girls, having become used to the environment and having seen nudity daily are intoxicated with the sense of being on stage and are lured out of their clothing by the other girls, customers, and promises of large tips.
Now, at this point, the manager’s job just starts. But, if the girl has not taken her clothes off, the manager again has to start in on her about needing more help on the floor. Again, most of the girls will agree to help the manager out. At this time, you tell them that things are not that busy, and you take them out for dinner, “my treat.” Of course, the club lways writes this off! So, you go out, have some drinks and small talk with the girl. Returning to the club she now believes that you’re good friends, plus she is under the influence of alcohol. At this point, she easily disrobes at the customer’s request, with the other girls welcoming a new dancer into their ranks. The experienced dancers will then go on about how beautiful she is and how much money she’ll make.
Of course, even now, she still might have not disrobed. But, by this point, you are her friend and can make her feel guilty about not helping out more and ask her to please disrobe, as without her, you’ll not make much money that night. She is needed. People who need her and customers who tell her how beautiful she is surround her.
She now experiences a variety of emotions and, being human, needs to be needed. With this emotion fulfilled, she finds herself wanting to be complemented, which she is, and she wants to make money, which she can. You then play on the “what more can a girl want?” and the subject of self-worth never really comes up.
At this point, if she still has not disrobed, you let her know you no longer need her for her position, but dancing is open if she wishes to still work at the club. This does not work unless she has incurred debts and needs the money, or she actually enjoyed the experience and doesn’t want to lose her new friends. If she stays, the manager must start training her to be a professional. This means changing almost everything about her including her personality; she must now be a passive/aggressive if she is to survive. This means that she needs to learn to say whatever it takes to make money. She can never talk about her personal life to anyone as clients can hear this. What you try to do is get the girls programmed to have regular customers. A regular customer is a customer who believes that this girl actually cares for him, and now his fantasy world is complete. He comes in on a regular basis and she invites him back on certain days and times as not to interfere with other regular customers. This is usually set for the club’s slow times because when it’s busy she can make money without her regular clientele. Of course, with all of these girls having regular clients, the club is guaranteed a steady income and solid revenues. The club regulars are usually family men looking for an escape from the real world, and the girls are taught to prey upon them.
Mandatory meetings are set for all the girls. This time is really used for mostly programming of the girls and getting into their heads. You again let them know what you want and motivate them by whatever it takes. Soon the new dancer starts running around with the more hardened and seasoned girls, and they realize how much easier this job is being drunk, high or, more often than not, both. By now she’s working until 2 am in the morning, staying out all night partying after work, and then grabbing a breakfast with the girls. They wake up, go to work, and the cycle starts all over.
They have no time to go to the post office, the dentist, or any other “normal” things. They are deep into the club scene and on the road to hard times and even self-destruction. At this point, school, family, and friends have faded into a world that no longer exists for them.
As a manager, at this point, anything you say, ask or demand of the girl will gladly be done because the club is now their home. The girls don’t realize this is their only world, and the club manager now has total control over what’s going on in their lives. The girls will even put up with degradation, verbal and emotional abuse and everything else the manager wants to do.
At this time the girl may feel fed up and leave, going to a new club thinking to herself that she finally made a decision on her own and things will be better. But she is really just fooling herself. The manager at the new club does the same things except now she has no friends to talk to and the manager knows that most of the time she cannot return to the old club so he abuses her even worse than the first manager. Of course, she then drinks more and gets high more than ever hoping it will go away. It will only get worse for her now.
All purchases of our Scarlet Hope shirt go directly towards giving these men and women a chance to be free from the entrapment of the sex industry.
We are all about educating the wearers of our shirts (and anyone else who cares) as to what they are actually supporting by buying our apparel.
Attached below is the beginning of a multi part series that for better or worse, gives you a much closer look into the adult entertainment industry.
The following document was written by David Sherman, a former manager at one of the largest adult entertainment chains in the country.
Some of these entries may be a bit lengthy, but we truly believe they are worth the read.
-Lee
Part 1 – The Dancers Experience
Right from the start, drug and alcohol use is rampant. The dancers call it “partying” but what they don’t realize is that they are actually medicating themselves in order to do the work they do. The abortion rate is extremely high due to the fact that they could never take the chance on flawing the body from carrying a child. On top of this, the dancers also feel that they have no way to support the baby without dancing, and can’t quit to have it. Basically, they are caught in a very real, painful catch-22.
The girls, if they have never danced, are extremely against it and most of the times are hired as waitresses, even though waitresses are not needed. This makes the atmosphere become part of their life. At this point, they see it as a job, not as stripping and easily are converted to dancing. Once dancing, they get used to being objectified. It becomes as important to them to hear how beautiful they are 200 times a day as it is the money they make from the dancing itself.
Between the use of drugs to medicate themselves to do what they do, and after hearing how beautiful they are all the time, they soon develop what I call “BDA” – Basic Dancer Attitude.“ This is when the dancer thinks that no matter what friends, children, husband and families think about them, they can all be replaced because all of the patrons around them find them attractive, beautiful and idolized. All that was close, in terms of family and friends can be replaced. Now they are truly caught in the adult scene. With friends and family gone from their lives, they solely exist in this dark subculture of sex, drugs, alcohol and prostitution. All of this perverse living, to the dancer, is now just part of their normal lifestyle.
After a couple of years at this level, they then realize they are getting older and attempt to fit back into society.
They try boyfriends, school or really anything to cling to that is “normal.” Realizing that they cannot live in both worlds, they return to the subculture of the adult business, actually despising the real world. This leads to more dependency on drugs and alcohol, which now makes them 100% lost to this life. The dancers will continue living like this until they realize they can no longer stay at their “current level,” and keep making money and getting the compliments. Once they realize this, they begin to master more perverse things to make cash to make up from fading looks and dancer burnout.
The cycle then becomes even more vicious, with depression, drugs, alcohol and body mutilation to stay thin. Finally, they realize they can no longer keep up with the new and younger girls and leave, going to one of five places.
1. They go to a very filthy, dirty nasty club that’s full of girls in their position. Here they perform and do some of the mostvile and filthy acts you can imagine to make money.
2. Prostitution – meeting customers outside of the club, their job now becomes a place for them to meet new “clients.”
3. Marriage – they’ll do this just to be able to still survive. But, the addiction to drugs and alcohol normally shatters and destroys these relationships.
4. Some actually do break away and go to school to become productive citizens. But, this frequency is around 1 of 50.
5. They become society’s throwaway people – used up, degraded, abused and even sold by the people who own these establishments.
Sadly, these young ladies over time, little by little, become manipulated, controlled and finally destroyed by a world that our communities have closed their eyes to. It has been just as much our fault as theirs for letting these places do this to our children, daughters, nieces, granddaughters, and yes, even mothers. For they were every bit as innocent as we.
Tomorrow we will taking a look at this same situation from the managers perspective.
All purchases of our Scarlet Hope shirt go directly towards giving these men and women a chance to be free from the entrapment of the sex industry.
All proceeds from the sale of the Scarlet shirt will go towards Scarlet Hope’s work of providing employment opportunities outside the sex and adult entertainment industry.
We have seen first hand the women that make up Scarlet Hope simply choose to do life with those they wish to love and serve. They understand the weight of their responsibility and respond with love that is absent of an agenda or ulterior motive.
Tangibly, the organization provides needs such as food, housing, schooling, counseling, and transportation to those trapped in the business. If there is a genuine need, it’s met.
They know that by Jesus’ example he went into the gutter of those who were living a life of poverty, prostitution, sickness, disease, and loneliness. He met each one of them where they were at.
Scarlet Hope wants the world to know that God loves every single woman and man in the sex industry, and that no one is outside the love, grace, and hope of Jesus Christ.
Every shirt that spendyourself agrees to produce has a specific story behind it, and this one is no different. Listed below is the story that comes from a woman in industry who goes by the stage name of Scarlet.
Scarlet’s story:
My name is Scarlet. Broken. Unloved. Unworthy.
I am a dancer who the world throws stones at. I am spit on, mocked, called a whore. People think I don’t deserve to live.
When I walked into the club, I thought I was going to be able to make some money dancing on tables and getting guys to buy me drinks. It wasn’t until I walked in that dreadful club that I realized how different my life was about to change. I immediately felt as though I was paralyzed and in a trance. I just wanted to go leave. However, I have four kids and they needed food. They hadn’t eaten a real meal in a week and I just got out of the hospital for attempted suicide. It was going to be fast, easy and I was going to make money to feed my kids.
I thought just one drink might take the edge off, but an hour later I was completely drunk. I hadn’t eaten in days, and hunger was gnawing at my insides.
In my drunken state I noticed a group of women coming in to bring a home cooked meal. Why were they coming in? Could I quiet my growling stomach finally?
I waited a minute until they set up, I was staggering all around and everyone was watching me make a fool of myself. I was a wreck. I went up to the table where the food was set up and asked if I could buy a plate, the girls looked at me and told me “no this is free for you, would you like a plate?” I immediately skipped the plates and started eating straight out of the pan. They helped me get a plate, but by this time I was gorging myself with food and couldn’t imagine eating anything better.
I was embarrassed yet I couldn’t stop. I wanted help, but I didn’t.
My stomach hadn’t had food in it for a week, and this sudden feast was feeling like it was going to come right back up.
I started to vomit everywhere and one of the girls put her arms around me and held me as I threw up. I looked into her eyes and was crying hysterically. I asked her if she knew Jesus…she looked me straight in the eye and said “yes I know Jesus, do you?” I told her I did, but that I was so far from him that I needed him to help me…I asked her to pray with me. So we started to pray, and by the middle of the prayer I was crying out to God louder than the music was playing in the club.
People all around us were watching. The other girls that came with her were praying behind us, God was there, I felt his spirit move.
At the most embarrassing, broken, unlovable time in my life, I was loved!
Unwavering. Unconditional. Love took hold of me that day, all because someone decided to come and love me.
There is a God that loves me deeper than anyone can explain. It’s a love that reaches to the very darkness that was in my soul. I am loved.
To read more about the women in the industry that Scarlet Hope serves please see the following blog entries:
A look inside a strip club 1/2
A look inside a strip club 2/2
All proceeds from the sale of the Kisumu shirt will go towards LIA’s work in the Nyalenda slum.
HIV/AIDS is devastating families, communities, and entire cities, leaving orphans and vulnerable children in its wake. In these regions throughout Kenya, Life In Abundance International (LIA) is partnering with local churches to empower the left behind.
LIA has approached this situation with a pioneering method that is both sustainable and holistic, meeting the needs of the children in the short-term and empowering their caregivers (relatives, neighbors, etc.) to care for the child over the long term. In conjunction with partner churches, LIA meets the immediate physical and spiritual needs of these children and, over the course of three years, serve to empower their care givers.
Kevin’s story: While most 17 year old boys in America are worried about who they are taking to prom and where they will be going to college, Kevin Juma (pictured below) is working hard to help take care of his siblings. His family of eight were living in a one room shack when LIA made it’s second home visit.
Their parents died eight years ago. His older sisters (both in their 20′s) were away working as housekeepers, trying to make money for the family. Both sisters have children of their own now, so sending money for the others is hard. Life is not easy for his family. The little ones are always in need of food, clothing and supplies for school.
Kevin is very thankful for the LIA church partner and the ministry they do for the family, helping make ends meet and providing food for the family. The church is transforming their lives through food support.
He said he’d like people to pray that he feels better. He was sick when we were talking to him. Kevin asked that people pray that doors would open for his sisters to make a good living. He said he also prays that the other orphans in the area will have a normal life and that the church will continue its good ministry.
This is just one story of one family in the Nyalenda slum of Kisumu, Kenya and there are over 200,000 people in this slum with similar stories.
“Whatever you do unto the least of these, you do unto me.”(Matthew 25:34-40)
Friends of Spendyourself are currently visiting the Nyalenda slum and will be providing an update on LIA’s work when they return.
Photography by Jessica Nichols of J*Grace Photography
To read more about LIA and the work being done in Kenya, please see the following blogs:
Proceeds from the sale of the Omed (hope) shirt will go directly to fund completion of the boys and girls school at the Barek Aub refugee camp in Afghanistan.
Barek Aub camp is an IDP (internal refugee camp) about 25 miles outside of Kabul, Afghanistan. The people of Barek Aub are not foreigners, but rather refugees within their own country. Having fled Afghanistan during the Taliban regime, they returned after the fall to find their homes, schools, and businesses bombed out and uninhabitable. Farmlands that were used for grazing were now littered with land mines.
Like most Afghans faced with this situation, they traveled to Kabul in search of a new beginning. As a result of this migration, it’s estimated that Kabul’s infrastructure has ten times the load on it that it is capable of supporting. In an attempt to ease the burden on the city, many people have been forced to relocate outside of Kabul. In the Spring of 2007, this group was relocated from a bombed out building in Kabul to what they now call Barek Aub. The camp’s name, Barek Aub, means ‘fragile water’ in the native language of Dari. In the beginning, they were armed with a plastic pup tent and a small parcel of land. Unfortunately, the remote location rendered it impossible to have an income source. Water was delivered to the site, but half of it was undrinkable, which created a multitude of health concerns. Overnight, these actions created a level of poverty that would compete with any situation across the world.
These conditions compelled Sozo International to partner with these refugees since the first time they crossed paths. Sozo’s approach has always been to partner with the people it intends to serve and build meaningful relationships. As a result, these relationships empower the people it hopes to serve rather than generating a sense of dependency. Over the last 2 years, what was once a dire situation on the cusp of survival is starting to see some hope. Deep water wells that provide clean water have been dug, food is being provided on a regular basis, and permanent shelter continues to be built. With that said, there is still much work to be done to move from a state of survival to a state of sustainable progress. The massive inflation that has rocked the Afghan economy reminds us of the stark reality that the average person still only gets one full meal every two days.
The people of Barek Aub are a resilient group, and when the question was posed to the elders of what they would like to see in Barek Aub, the answer was an easy one – ‘a school’. A school for both boys and girls is seen as a luxury to the generations before them that did not have the opportunity, and a key to the future stability of their nation. By equipping this generation with the tools that they need, we aim to restore hope and a sustainable future to the people of Barek Aub.
To see more pictures involving Sozo International and those they serve, please click here.
