Oasis Belgium

A new dawn

When she was only 11, Prabhati’s step mother sold her to a brothel. While working as a prostitute she married a man who turned out to be a pimp. He introduced her to drugs and she quickly became an addict. They had one daughter and one son. She loved her children, and realized that if she died they would be at the mercy of pimps who could enrol them in the trade. Despite wanting to leave, she felt trapped.

She was close to an emotional breakdown when she met Pushpa, who works with Aruna, a project of Oasis India. Pushpa gained her trust and convinced her that she could live a fulfilling life away from drugs and prostitution. She was sent to a hospital and miraculously overcame her addiction in three days.

That was 6 years ago. Three years after that she got a job caring for the children of women trapped in prostitution in a home run by the Salvation Army. If it wasn’t for this home, these girls would still be living in the brothels with their mothers. Prabhati cooks for the girls and helps keep the home clean. She is glad that Oasis India enabled her to start afresh. She says, ‘Oasis India is my new family as I was bereft of my own family as an innocent young child and yearned for a family to call my own.’

Let's Mundo

During the STOP THE TRAFFIK workshop, small groups of students could place themselves in the world of the little boy Chaga. Chaga, living in Mali, was lured by a trafficker with promises of a better life and earning money for his poor family. The trafficker took him to Ivory Coast where he had to work on a cocoa plantation. The students listened carefully and seemed to be surprised that this kind of slavery-like practices still happen today and that there are an estimated 12.000 childslaves like Chaga on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast. Afterwards the students got a piece of slave-free Tony’s Chocolonely chocolate and they were spurred to buy fairtrade chocolate. Let’s hope that this event raised awareness of the huge problem of human trafficking with these Belgian students!

€ 850 !

Niels received a cheque from the secondary school GSM in Munterbilzen. The school organised a sponsored run to raise money for the Stop The Traffik campaign.

Thanks to all !