Slavery isn’t something we think about in this country. After all, slavery officially ended January 1, 1863 when Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation. Yet we read that children are sold into slavery in Nepal and other parts of Asia. When we hear of something so horrific we are shocked and appalled but since it’s not something that affects us, it’s pretty easy to put those disagreeable thoughts from our minds. And then we might think that slavery is too strong of a word. Are things really as bad as that? Actually, they are. Webster’s definition of slavery is: ‘Someone who is legally owned by another person and is forced to work for that person without pay.’
Though it is technically illegal, children are sold to individuals, usually city dwellers, to work. The children wash dishes, scrub floors, wait on their owners and do whatever their owner asks of them. The children work 10 or 12 hour days often times without enough food and most certainly without attending school. If the child doesn’t perform as required they are punished though lack of food, cigarette burns, beatings or other cruel methods.
Being sold to work is ghastly but when little girls are sold into prostitution, the level of degradation is multiplied. Most often it is girls from mountain villages who are sold. Those little ones are extremely innocent and naïve because they have had no exposure to television, books, magazines or other media. Their homes have no electricity, technology or devices. Life is simple for them. The stark reality these girls face when they are taken across the border and sold into brothels is incomprehensible!! These girls, real flesh and blood children just like our own, are placed in lurid situations with no means of escape! According to Patricia McCormick, author of the book, “Sold”, about 12,000 Nepali girls are still being sold each year to brothels in India.
At TWAM we are all about saving children and giving them a new life!! No, we cannot save them all but by God’s grace we will save as many as we can. There is a saying, ‘One person can only do so much.’ We don’t agree! We think that one person can do MUCH!! Be that one person.