Saturday, February 5, 2011

The True Tiger Mother


 It's 9:34 pm, and I am editing a transcript for Hasina Kharbhih, warrior extraordinaire in the battle against human trafficking.  I should have edited it a month ago, but I volunteered for too many things and subsequently got stuck in the land of procrastination.  
But, now I am editing, and the report is covering how the media in the northeast region can help or hinder the fight against trafficking.  I came across this line:
"Poverty is forcing the mother to send the child; the elder sister of that child was already married and settled.  She has got only one daughter, who is studying.  Ok, we're not looking at what is forcing that mother to do.  She is getting about 800 rupees per month ($17 USD).  There's a middleman who approaches and says, OK... I can get you more money if you will send the child to outside the state.  The child said no..."
The child said no, and a mother's union prevented her from being taken.  Legal action was taken because of Mothers in the villages who have had enough of their children being stolen, lured, trapped, raped, drugged, beaten, and killed.  I have two very young children, and words fail to describe the pain my heart would suffer if one were subjected to any one of those things.  Many of the mothers in these vulnerable areas hear that their daughters have been offered jobs in the city, and simply never hear from them again.  They have no resources to find them. 
Hasina's NGO, Impulse Network NGO rescues, rehabilitates, and restores the girls to their families (when possible).  Trina Talukdar's Kranti functions similarly, and trains the girls in a vocation of their choosing and aptly calls them her Revolutionaries.  I am beyond honored to know these women, and contribute to returning these children to their mothers. It's time for the Revolution.  

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