Human Trafficking and Immigration Reform: The Refugee Crisis At Our Southern Border

This morning as I drove in there were two pre-teen boys standing on the overpass holding signs. As I slowed to read their messages, which were obviously written in their own somewhat sloppy script, one said, "Secure Our Border" and of course the other, "Impeach Obama".

To say this nation is weary of politicking when it comes to our immigration policies is an extreme understatement. The Twitter and Facebook feeds, the news headlines and op-ed columns are full of rants and pleas for resolution. No matter if you fall on the humanitarian side of the fence or the national security side, everyone agrees the status quo is unacceptable and the whole process is deeply flawed and broken.

There are no simple answers, there is no easy way out. There is only the critical need to come together for the sake of human dignity and to protect the most vulnerable among us. Here are the facts and the stories of those most at risk.

Homeland security reports there are 12,000,000 unauthorized immigrants in the USA. But according to border patrol agents this is closer to 20 million. “The more likely figure is 18-20 million and rising daily,” says Zack Taylor, chairman of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers, Inc. 

Whether it is 12 million or 30 million as some have claimed is not the issue. The reality is those are huge numbers that represent families living in limbo. And if the number does approach the 30 million mark, well then our sense of urgency must match it.

According to a Pew Hispanic Center report, 57% of unauthorized immigrants are from Mexico; 24% are from other Latin American countries, primarily from Central America; 9% are from Asia; 6% are from Europe and Canada; and 3% are from Africa and the rest of the world. The PHC also reported that in 2010, there are "1 million unauthorized immigrants under age 18 in the U.S., as well as 4.5 million U.S.-born children whose parents are unauthorized". 

That's 5.5 million potentially vulnerable children as a conservative estimate based on the number 12 million for unauthorized immigrants so that number could be two or three times higher. And the number of children immigrating alone is spiking exponentially, especially from Central America. The graphic below from The Economist.

Why the recent spike? What are these children fleeing from? The answers are deeply disturbing. This article from Vox is a must read to understand the current state of many Central American countries. The article reports "the murder rate in Honduras in 2012 was a whopping 30 percent higher than UN estimates of the civilian casualty rate at the height of the Iraq war. In other words, all three Central American countries were, statistically speaking, twice as dangerous for civilians as Iraq was."

This extreme violence is due to pandemic gang activity and children are uniquely vulnerable to gang violence. "The street gangs known as "maras" — M-18 and Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13 — target kids for forced recruitment, usually in their early teenage years, but sometimes as young as kindergarten. They also forcibly recruit girls as "girlfriends," a euphemistic term for a non-consensual relationship that involves rape by one or more gang members. If children defy the gang's authority by refusing its demands, the punishment is harsh: rape, kidnapping, or murder."

Below, with well over 60,000 members, Mara Salvatrucha (aka MS-13) is easily one of the largest and most feared criminal gangs in the world.

Two more articles that outline the terror that these children live in: from The Guardian, and The New York Times. The stories in these articles are graphic. Especially the NYT piece. But they are the true accounts of what these kids are running from. Please read them and let them crush your heart.

Along with this refugee crisis of children fleeing violence is the issue of human trafficking across our southern border. The State Department estimates up to 50,000 people are trafficked across our southern border with Mexico annually. This usually takes two forms.

1. Sex trafficking: young girls are brought into the US and forced into prostitution or are sold over and over again as sex slaves. A high profile case in Houston where Federal prosecutors described a trafficking ring that was selling young Mexican girls, "[they]fixed the prices for sex with the underage girls based on how young and pretty they were. The victims were kept locked in a room over the bar and regularly beaten by pimps and clients.The prices for the sex acts ranged from $65 for 15 minutes to up to $500 per hour." A quick Google search reveals endless stories of young girls tricked, coerced, or kidnapped and brought to the US as sex slaves. A 12 year old forced to service 25 men a day in a field under a tarp is one of many stories revealing the need to act now with relentless determination.

2. Forced labor: There are thousands of documented cases of forced labor in the US agriculture industry. From the tomato farms and citrus groves of Florida to the livestock ranches of Colorado workers are lured to the US with false promises and then coerced into slave labor. Many of the types of labor exploitation trafficking victims endure are touched on in this report from Free The Slaves.

According to antislavery.org  "Enslaved workers are taken to labor camps where they face brutality and a near-total loss of control over their lives. As many as 12-16 [workers] may be housed in one cramped, run-down trailer, kept under constant surveillance by employers using a variety of methods, including armed guards. Some endure a constant barrage of verbal abuse along with threats of violence and death to themselves and their families back home. In the most severe cases, employers use public beatings, pistol-whippings, and shootings to make an example of those trying to escape. In addition, women in forced labor are sometimes faced with sexual harassment and even violent sexual assault."

When workers are undocumented they are afraid to call police when abused. They fear retaliation, deportation, incarceration, or worse. And yet we continue to demand cheaper and cheaper goods in America. We continue to claim that these men and woman are doing the jobs Americans will not do (unauthorized immigrants make up 25% of farm workers (not including temporary workers)) making them vital to our economy. We continue to profit from this cheap, sometimes free labor and because of this we the people have been silent too long.

My heart here is to outline a possible solution which makes the very best of a very bad situation. One that brings ultimate resolution and safety for the vulnerable caught in this border-less labyrinth. I feel any reform bill must have these three points included to be just, effective, and compassionate. 

First: We must close our borders. We must do it to keep the children from being sold into sexual slavery here. We must so we will know who is here, know they are citizens and make sure they have full rights. So they are not scared to seek justice or medical care. So they can better themselves through education and the many opportunities this incredible nation affords its people. And going forward we must enforce the law. A society who protects the weakest among its people is one who is governed by compassion and the rule of law. We must at the same time always and perpetually have open doors to all those who are fleeing persecution and abuse.This is what has always made America amazing, it is what I would love my country to be known for again. We cannot solve all the worlds problems. We cannot end all the abuses that send people fleeing. But when those that are desperate for freedom come to American shores we can say to them, "you are welcome here, you are safe now, you are family."

Second: We must give amnesty to those who are already here. We have benefited from their hard work and cheap labor. Those who have fake social security numbers have paid into a retirement they will never see. Money the US government is glad to have and use. We must fast track these unauthorized immigrants to citizenship. Not superseding the ones who have immigrated legally but with an urgency that admits that what we have is not an immigration crisis but a refugee one. Once these immigrants are in our system then those few that are dangerous felons can be deported. 

Third: We must take political expediency and opportunism out of the equation. Whether we suspend the right of those unauthorized immigrants receiving amnesty to vote for an election cycle or two; this is a small price to pay for not giving political parties a voter base they can leverage. Our response to this humanitarian crisis must be apolitical and dignified. We must restore the humanity to this deeply troubled situation. This is not about what is best for America anymore. This is about what is right, what is ethical, what is good. We the people have eaten the fruits picked by bruised and broken hands. We the people have worn the cotton picked by beaten and bloodied backs. We the people with bellies full while those who have labored without pay in our fields have gone hungry. No more.

We are a nation of immigrants who once proudly, compassionately proclaimed:

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Have we become a nation of closed and hardened hearts? Have we long forgotten where we came from? Are we willing to do less for the scared and battered children of the world then we will for our own children? Are we willing to allow this refugee crisis to continue unabated?

I hope our collective response is a loud, resounding "No! Not on our watch, not now, not ever!"

Please contact your congressperson. You can do so here. Tell them what we have in America is a refugee crisis and you will not allow it to be politicized. Tell them you want reform now. If you agree with the some or all of the three points above then email them to your senators and representatives along with your ideas. Let them know your America is one of compassion. Let them know your vote is for human dignity and always for safe harbor of the persecuted. Please sign this petition. And thank you for caring about justice and opening your hearts with compassion. 

Child Pornography and Human Trafficking in the News

New research shows that Internet pornography is more addictive than cocaine and heroine — and that it “literally changes the physical matter within the brain so that new neurological pathways require pornographic material in order to trigger the desired reward sensation”. And current trends suggest that the material desired is of an increasingly violent nature and of younger and younger victims. The rate of production of child pornography is eclipsing all other forms of porn production.

Though it is true that there are women who choose to be filmed sexually, any child filmed pornographically is always a coerced or forced victim and therefore they have been exploited. And if they have been transported or sold or rented for this purpose they have also been trafficked. The following articles are vile and horrific and they reveal an alarming escalation in the amount of child pornography being produced and children being violated. These stories involve some of the youngest victims of commercial sexual exploitation by some of the most perverse perpetrators the world has ever known. Please read them, let the horrors of these stories change you forever. Let them be the catalyst that makes you an abolitionist for life. Truly there is no one more voiceless than children. Please be their voice. Thank you.

Click the bold heading to be taken to the full articles. 

John Bidmead (above), 65, was caught red handed by police as he watched a child sex abuse movie on a 50-inch television, when they knocked on his front door with a warrant to arrest him. They found him in possession of one million child porn images including 24,000 images of adults violating children.

Stewart Matthew Kidwell (above), 36, of Blanchester, Ohio, was arrested today on charges that he sought someone online to rape a 4-year-old family member while he watched and that he distributed child pornography through a social media website.

Experts say New Zealanders seeking child pornography are increasingly demanding younger victims and more violent abuse. The Department of Internal Affairs has already blocked 34 million attempts, now upwards of a million a month, within New Zealand to access at least one of 582 child sex abuse sites blocked by government filters since 2010.

Tommy Lee Waugh (above), 29, of Wartburg, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday morning to production of child pornography. Authorities rescued a 5-week old infant baby girl in his care that he had sexually abused, recorded it, and shared the images over the internet.

Bret Allan Nichols, 29, made an initial appearance in federal court Tuesday on three counts, including producing child pornography, possessing it, and receiving and distributing it. A woman reportedly told agents that he would make payments of up to $200 to watch her and her husband have sex with their daughter.

Toronto Police Service Detective Constable Lisa Belanger (L) and Inspector Joanna Beaven-Desjardins of the Toronto Police Service Sex Crimes Unit (R) announce hundreds of arrests in a global child exploitation investigation.

Nearly 400 children have been rescued and 348 adults arrested following an international child pornography investigation. A pornography site run by 42-year old Brian Way, sold and distributed images of child exploitation to over 50 counties. Police seized over 45 terabytes of data from the $4-million business that included images and videos of “horrific sexual acts against very young children that were some of the worst they have ever viewed." Among those arrested were 40 school teachers, nine doctors and nurses, six law enforcement personnel, nine pastors and priests and three foster parents.

A Broward county Florida man — who agents say was using a dead man's identity — was arrested Friday on allegations he was part of a child pornography conspiracy that victimized a baby girl and toddler. For now, the suspect is booked into the Broward County jail under the name that he gave to law enforcement: Cliff Shaw (above), age 48. "Shaw" and Jason Barber, 36, who lives in Las Vegas, are accused of creating and exchanging pornographic images of an infant girl, between 6 and 9 months old, and a female toddler.

Human Trafficking In The News 3-7-12

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Human Trafficking in the News 1-28-12

Stories of human trafficking, child exploitation, child prostitution and forced labor in the news. 


As I checked the days headlines for stories related to these topics it seemed to me there were 5 times as many stories of exploitation each more grotesque, more horrifying than the next. I hope it is because of the concerted effort to expose these evils, but if anything it shows that the work to be done is great and that it will take all of us being deeply committed and tireless, to end these evils in our lifetime. Thank you for educating yourself and caring about justice. (Click the bold headings to go to the full articles.) 

An African witch-doctor. 

Witchcraft: The demonic realities of human trafficking: African and South American girls flee their captors and live to tell of their harrowing escapes and the sadistic rituals that their traffickers tried to use to enslave the young girl's minds.


Human Sacrifice in Uganda: 'In Uganda, traffickers buy and sell children to use their genitals, heads, and blood for ritual sacrifice. The U.S. Department of States recently reported 9000 children missing in Uganda over the last four years. Traffickers transport children both inside Uganda and to other countries for use in ritual sacrifices. In 2008, police arrested a witchdoctor couple and a real estate mogul, Godfrey Kajubi, for trafficking 12 year old Joseph for ritual sacrifice. According to the police, Kajubi promised the witchdoctor couple $4021 in exchange for the heads of four children, which he planned to use for ritual.'

Young child working at a gold mine.

Forced child labor in Gold mines and young girls raped for good luck: In Ganzourgou Province new gold veins are found and thousands of young children are exploited in these mines. Boys 'dig, crush, and carry rocks, facing great risks on a daily basis. The young girls are responsible for carrying water, crushing stones and rebuilding. Some of them look after their younger siblings while their mothers are at work. Owing to various superstitions linking sex to finding gold, the little girls also become victims of sexual exploitation or prostitution on the sites.'


New York Author trafficks girls from Brazil, Hungary and France: 3 women promised gainful employment and green cards get instead coercion and sexual deviancy.

Woman trades sexual favors with a child for painkillers: Below,  Debra Annmarie Blackmon, 25, and Tony Marcel Hammond, 23, face sex trafficking and other charges. The couple even gave the child marijuana to help her complete the act.

Selling girls on the web, Nicholas Kristof takes on Backpage.com: The classified ads for The Village Voice have been used all to often to sexually exploit minors. The magazine claims it is a matter of censorship vs. free speech. Pulitzer Prize winning author Kristof takes them to task.


The world's 5 most dangerous countries for women: Incredible resource from Rueters as published on trust.org that highlights the most dangerous places in the world to be born female. The map below. Please click the link to read about the most egregious crimes against woman. From the 1152 women and girls raped everyday in the Congo, to the 70-80% of young women in Afghanistan in forced marriages.

Other heartbreaking statistics from the Rueter's chart:


1000 honor killing in Pakistan every year.


95% of woman in Somalia face forced genital mutilation.


50 million. The deficit of women in India to men. Mass infanticide of baby girls has eradicated a whole generation of women equal to the population of Texas, Florida and Tennessee combined. 

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From all of us at Conspiracy Of Hope. Thank you for being a voice for the voiceless.

Human Trafficking In The News 1-3-12

This is the first installment for 2012 of our regular updates about the international crisis of Human Trafficking and the exploitation of children. It is with renewed determination that we find ourselves at the beginning of this year, recommitting our voice in both passion and volume for the voiceless victims of human trafficking. We are asking you to join us, and we would be deeply humbled to work shoulder to shoulder, arm and arm, to end this scourge once and for all. Thank you. Click on the bold headers of each section for the link to the full stories.

President Obama addressing the nation on Jan. 1, the 148th anniversary of the effective date of the Emancipation Proclamation.

President Obama names January National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month: In  his remarks the US President recommitted the nation "to bringing an end to this inexcusable human rights abuse."


Forced Marriage in Afghanistan, trafficking by a different name: 60 percent of the trafficking in Afghanistan is internal and much of this involves forced marriages, many that result in the young girl prostituted by her arranged husband. And in a related story...


8 year old Yemeni girl is now legally divorced from her 28 year-old husband:  In response to a question from Judge Mohammed al-Qadhi if the "couple" had consummated their relationship 28-year-old Faez Ali Thameur said yes BUT that he "did not beat her". As if that clarifies it for us, makes the whole child rape issue a moot point. Just a technicality for the Yemeni court system, file the necessary paperwork and then the child can go on about her 8 year-old life, happily divorced, and oh yeah, intimately acquainted with a FRICKIN' 28 year old pedophile!!!!!

"I am happy that I am divorced now. I will be able to go back to school," eight year old Nojud Mohammed Ali said, after a public hearing in Sanaa's court of first instance.

Texas man pleads guilty to possession of child porn: Authorities found 120 gigs, or about 20 thousand pornographic videos and images of young children on 29 year old Jonathan Ryan Vittitow's computer. Including messages where he solicited undisclosed individuals to drug three children so he could rape them. He faces 15-30 years in jail.


Victoria's Dirty Secret: "In Burkina Faso, where child labor is endemic, paying premiums for organic and fair-trade cotton has created fresh incentives for exploitation. A program there has attracted subsistence farmers who say they can't grow "ethically sourced” cotton without forcing children into their fields. Bloomberg News spent more than six weeks reporting in West Africa to capture the plight of Clarisse Kambire, below, a 13 year old who is kept out of school, malnourished and beaten."

"By the time Clarisse picked her first harvest in 2010, Victoria's Secret was becoming the fair trade program's only buyer instead of the most prominent, according to Georges Guebre , the program's leader. An executive for Victoria's Secret’s parent company says the amount of cotton it buys from Burkina Faso is minimal, but it takes the child-labor allegations seriously."

Sexism in the British Press: The sexual objectification of women and children and the Leveson Inquiry's response to it. Women's rights groups are documenting for the Government inquiry the irresponsible nature of reporting when it comes to sexual violence against women and the overall bent in British tabloids to present women and girls as sexual objects. A recent story involving 6 soccer players gang-raping 12 year-olds had the victims referred to as "lolitas" and the demonic act itself was called an 'orgy'. Subsequently, to prove the pandemic nature of sexism in British society, all six of the defendants were later freed after an appeal to court judge Lord Justice Moses. Judge 'Lord Justice Moses', who perhaps has the most pathetic and disgustingly ironic name ever, ruled that the 12 year old girls 'wanted to have sex'.  Um.....What?!?!


HOW THE HELL IS THAT A RULING!!???!! Either the age of consent in Britain is 16 or it's not.  Either rape is a statutory offence- created by section 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Which CLEARLY states that a person commits the offence of rape if


(a) they intentionally penetrate....you get the idea....without consent AND/OR
(b) the other person is under 16!!!!!!!!!!!


-Or its not!!!! Dear Judge 'Lord Justice Moses' you are now complicit in the reckless endangerment of a minor. You have enabled other over-sexed, meat-headed men hopped up on testosterone to make sport of the violation of children!!!!!!!!! By English law and all other moral codes you too are a rapist. Lock yourself up and throw away the frickin KEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Stop the planet....I want off.

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From all of us at Conspiracy Of Hope, thank you for caring about justice and child's rights, and have a Happy New Year!

Human Trafficking In The News: December 12, 2011

Homeless girl on the streets in the US.

Human trafficking, modern slavery and child exploitation in the news. Click the bold headings to link to the full stories. As always thank you for caring about justice and for being a voice for the voiceless.


Homelessness in the US on the rise: According to the National Center on Family Homelessness the amount of homeless children in the US has risen 33 percent to 1.6 million children compared to 1.2 million in 2007.

Missing children in China

Gendercide in India: Watch the 2 part video by ABC about the rise of infanticide and gendercide in India. As modern technology collides with Indian tradition it is girls that pay the ultimate price. A sonogram to determine a child's sex is much cheaper than the dowry a girl's parents will have to pay to her future groom. 


178 kids rescued in huge anti-trafficking sting in China: BEIJING - "Chinese police arrested 608 suspects and rescued 178 children in busts of two separate child trafficking networks, authorities said Wednesday. 5,000 police across 10 provinces cooperated for six months on the investigation and moved in to arrest the suspects last week. Child trafficking is big problem in China, where traditional preference for male heirs and a restrictive one-child policy has driven a thriving market in baby boys, who fetch a considerably higher price than girls. Girls and women also are abducted and used as laborers or as brides for unwed sons." CBS/AP


Shared Hope International releases state by state report card on anti-human trafficking: The state of Maine has been given an F by the national advocacy group for its laws dealing with sex trafficking of minors. Mississippi got a "D".

Human Trafficking In The News: 11-13-11

Human Trafficking in the news. Stories of forced labor, sex trafficking and child exploitation. Click the bold headings for links to the whole story.

20,000 girls sold in the last 8 years: 'Over 20,000 girls belonging to Chhattisgarh's tribal region have been sold by human traffickers in the last eight years in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, Congress leader Ajit Jogi said on Sunday. These girls mainly belonged to Jashpur, Surguja and Raigarh districts and were taken away by human traffickers in the name of jobs and trainings, the former Chhattisgarh chief minister said in a statement.' (Hindustan Times)


Hollywood set to release ant-trafficking film Bleeding Sunshine: "The best actors and actresses on the African continent have been brought together to feature alongside Hollywood actors in a new movie 'Bleeding Sunshine', which is set to hit the theatres soon. 'Bleeding Sunshine'  is about the “illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labour, and human trafficking." The film tells the harrowing tale of a young Ghanaian girl [Suzzy Nabor] whose life is turned upside down when she is plucked from her humble fishing village and thrust into the gritty world of international human trafficking." (Modern Ghana)

Coach Joe Paterno, what did he know, and when????

The Penn State Child Abuse scandal: Great article from the Washington Times on the reality that the sex abuse scandal is not about Paterno or Penn State, this is about pedophilia. Those at fault will be punished but the victims remain and the cycle is unending without addressing the root causes. Thanks to retired Chicago Police Officer Peter Bella for such wise words.

Dakota Fanning ad is pulled in the UK: Yet another instance of the sexual objectification of children. Miss Fanning, though seventeen in the ad is featured in a dress that was made for her when she was twelve and made up to look much younger than her age.

Somaly Mam, once a a victim of child trafficking herself, now rescues children like the one above, from  brothels.

Fearless woman raids brothel to rescue children: Great op-ed piece in the New York Times by Nicholas D. Kristof about Somaly Mam. "Somaly dedicates her life to battling forced prostitution, for she herself was sold as a child to a Cambodian brothel. After enduring torture and rapes, Somaly escaped and reinvented herself as an anti-trafficking activist."

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As always, from all of us at Conspiracy Of Hope, thank you for your passion for justice, thank you for being a voice for the voiceless, thank you for making the world a safer place for children. Please support our newest project to build a home for 40 precious orphans in Rayagada, India. To keep them from the evils that would seek to ravage them. You can donate here.

A Home For The Holidays.

In India there are 30 million child laborers with some estimates approaching 100 million, the highest concentration in the province of Andhra Pradesh, where almost 20% of the school age population are working. A very large percentage of these children, perhaps upwards of 40% find themselves in the very worst forms of child labor including child prostitution and bonded slave labor. As always there are none more at risk for this type of exploitation than orphans and street children. Nestled near the Andrha Pradesh border is Rayagada, just south of Orissa. It was in this small town that Narges Ashtari of the Prishan Foundation met 40 little orphans that would change her life forever. Narges has dedicated her life to keeping kids such as these out of harm's way. We spoke with her about her current project and the beautiful girls of Assist Orphanage she is helping.

Narges K. Ashtari and the sons of Assist Orphanage's caretakers Abraham and Jainy.

Tell us about the children you are fundraising for.

They are amazing! They are all little princesses with so much love and affection to give. They have all been through the worst things imaginable. They have seen and felt things that no one deserves to have felt and I had such an amazing connection with all of them. I would wake every morning cuddled up between all of them. I loved it and I loved every single second I spent with them. They allowed me to get so close to them and leaving them was SO incredibly difficult. I left promising them I would come back and build them their own home. I am more determined than ever. I send them letters every week and they send me drawings and little cards. My backpack has more letters and cards in it than clothes or anything else.

Some of the 40 little princesses at Assist Orphanage.

All girls, wow. Is there one little princess that stands out?


Gosh, it's so difficult to just tell you about one because they are all so special and have their own unique personalities. Without a doubt the little girl I spent almost all of my time with was Emi. She was the youngest in the orphanage so I felt like she needed more love and care. She's the little girl on my back (below). Every morning, around 6am, she would come and stroke my hair until I woke up. So gently and lovingly. She is 4 years old and lost her parents to Malaria, I don't think she remembers them and thinks of Abraham and Jainy, the orphanage caretakers, as her parents. I love them so much for that. For allowing her to call them mummy and daddy and not making her feel anything less than a daughter. After 2 or 3 days of living with her I became aunty Narges. Kids at that age have that CUTTEEEE voice and every time she wanted a bit of attention she would come and find me, pinch my leg, say aunty Narges in that adorable voice and then she'd be sorted for a couple of hours. We'd play until it was bedtime.  

Emi and Aunty Narges.

Her parents died when she was a baby and the villagers had pretty much kept her until they found Assist orphanage. Abraham had told me that when she first came to the orphanage she would often speak about her village people, her little friends so I wanted to take her back to her village. I think that she understood that she hadn't said goodbye to them properly and you could see that sometimes she would just be thinking so deeply about something. Me, Abraham and Emi got on a motorbike and after 3/4 hours got to her village. It was tiny, dirty, not a place for children. It just made me realize how much Abraham and Jainy changed this girls life. She would have still been in this area, miserable, not going to school... She had her new dress and shoes on and she walked with us through that village with the biggest smile on her face. 

Emi in her new dress (above), and Emi and Abbi goofin' below. 

After coming back from her village I could tell she was so different. She wouldn't wake up as much during the night, wouldn't be so lost in thought sometimes. It was the closure she needed. She understood everything. I miss Emi so much now! Ahhhhh!!


What is the current situation of Assist Orphanage and the children?

When I was there the landlord of the home they had lived in for over 10 years told them they had 2 weeks to leave because his daughter was giving birth and he wanted her to live there. We literally knocked on every single door in Rayagada after that to see if they had space or an empty room for the girls to move into. Finally we found a 2 bedroom apartment. But that was SO small and so expensive to fit all the children into. We convinced the landlord of the orphanage to let half of the girls stay on the first floor of the house and we moved the other remaining 20 into the new home. Thankfully he agreed. So now, half of the girls are living on the first floor of their previous orphanage while the top is occupied by the landlords daughter and husband, and the remaining girls are in a small apartment 20mins walk away. Right now we are paying rent for 2 homes, money we could be using for other things! 

Abraham and Jainy, their new orphanage will be more than a house for orphaned children, it is a home, it is family.

The orphanage was given a piece of land 5 years ago by a charity but just never had the funds to build anything on the land. Abraham never even told me about this piece of land because he thought it would never be possible to build anything and said he didn’t want to burden me with it. It was either the day I was leaving or the day before that he mentioned it to me. I rounded the girls up, took them to piece of land, took some photos of it with them and I promised them I would raise the money in 6-12 months…

Do you talk to your princesses while you are back West?


I call the children all the time telling them how much we have raised, I see myself as one of them but the one who is lucky enough to be able to go to the West and raise the money.  I really do believe we are all the same, no matter where we are from or what we look like. At the end of the day we all just want to be happy right!?

How much will it cost to build the orphanage? 


20 lakh rupees. This is the cost of building permission, to dig 200m underground to pump up fresh water, to have an electricity line, labour charges and materials. All of it together comes to $43,000. If not a little more.



Who will oversee the building?


I will oversee the whole thing. It will take 3 months to build, I will be there for the entire process.



How much have you raised so far?


$9557 Raised, $33,443 to go!





Last year you raised over 7000 dollars by shaving your head, what types of fundraisers are you doing now?



We do bake sales every Sunday morning in downtown Vancouver. I spend the night before, my Saturday nights in style, wrapping 200+ cookies in plastic wrap. I wouldn’t change that for the world. I enjoy it because I know how many donations we get from each one, plus, those ‘broken’ cookies aren't going to eat themselves! I know that sometimes I may upset the people around me because I do not spend as much time with them but I feel like if they were my genuine friends they should understand. These children are my life now. Last year there was a lovely girl who baked cookies for us, it is just too much work, it takes so much time, time that we could spend doing other fundraisers so I buy the cookies this year. Superstore has an amazing deal, 20 cookies for $5.99 so I buy 6 or 7 packs, if it’s going to be a sunny day then I will buy more… 

Life at Assist Orphanage....

Right now I have around 6 people helping every week. We have a great time trying to sell them, we joke around with people as much as we can. We stand at a great location as well, right behind a busy Art Gallery, in between two busy roads and next to a road always packed with cars… sometimes we even stop the cars and sell them cookies! We raise around $400 every time. I am trying to find more volunteers so we can start doing it on Saturdays too! I love the bake sales, we get to meet so many people who share their stories with us. We meet many people who have been to India and have fallen in love with the country just as much as I have. 


Also I sell jewelry that I purchased while in India. A lovely friend of mine donated around 100 brand new t-shirts for me to sell. I babysit as often as I can, ‘babysitting children for children’ the parents make a donation on my website every time. What ever time I have left during the day I spend it by sending out as many emails as possible to who ever I feel could help us in the fundraising, every business, charity, humanitarian worker or celebrity you can think of, I have emailed! 



Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In 5 years I want to have already lived in India for a couple of years, surrounded by children, a few perhaps adopted by me and be working to fund raise. Instead of having to come back to the west once in a while to raise money I want to stay there and find a way to do it there. Find a way to support myself and the children… That’s my dream. 


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This holiday season, when we have so much to be thankful for, so many reasons to give let's remember the 40 girls in Rayagada. Let's give them a home for the holidays. Conspiracy Of Hope is donating all of our funds raised until Prishan Foundation reaches their goal for the building project. Below is a short video highlighting that campaign. Please donate with boundless generosity. And as always, thank you for being a voice for the voiceless and Happy Holidays!

Donate here!!! Thanks!!!! XOXOXOXO