Neha (red blouse) and her friend Pooja were both seven years old. They lived in a remote village of north India. Neha's papa labored daily in the fields but still could barely provide food for the family.
Pooja's papa had died and her mother had almost no income. Both girls often went hungry. But when they played together, they forgot their sorrows. “When I grow up,” said Neha, “I want to help kids like me. I want to be a teacher or a nurse.” Pooja laughed. “Oh, that's nice. When I grow up, I want to be a flight attendant!” Pooja spread her arms like an airplane and ran, black hair flying in the breeze. “I want to go high in the sky and serve lots of nice food to the movie stars.”
Neha's mother began attending one of WIN.Global's local events. Coming to know of the family's desperate condition, we brought her to Blue Haven children's home. From then on, Neha never went hungry again. Enrolled in a good English medium school, she is now only months away from finishing her nursing education.
At around the same time, some ladies visited Pooja's ailing mother. "We'll give your daughter nice food and enroll her in a good school," they promised. With that, Pooja's mother handed her over.
But the ladies turned out to be traffickers. Pooja was not taken to a school, but to a brothel. After enduring a year of hell, one day she climbed to the roof of the four-story building and spread her arms like an airplane. Her black hair flew in the breeze once more... as she plummeted to her death on the street below.
Pooja is the missing girl in our children's home. She too could have had a bright future if we could have rescued her before she was trafficked.
The children in Blue Haven children's home now are reaching graduation and college level. They are committed to stopping the horrors of child sex trafficking in their country.
Like Pooja, there are thousands more little girls across north India trapped in horrible abuse and exploitation, waiting for someone to help them. WIN.Global's heart cry is to rescue more children before they are trafficked by educating rural parents and children so they will not fall victim to traffickers.
Help us get to the Poojas before the traffickers do.