I recently learned how to make origami boxes. You can too! Just click here
My Christmas is hand-made this year....
Have a wonderful week!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Merry Christmas!
I've realized that even as a 24 year old I'm still obsessed with the color purple :)
I recently learned how to make origami boxes. You can too! Just click here
My Christmas is hand-made this year....
Have a wonderful week!
I recently learned how to make origami boxes. You can too! Just click here
My Christmas is hand-made this year....
Have a wonderful week!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
30 Days Tour
I'm so excited about Pick a Pocket upcoming tour. In May -June 2010 we'll be taking over the east coast with 40 artists. Our main purpose is to serve the people in the cities we are going to. That could either mean serving at homeless shelters, picking up trash on the sit of the road, or baby sitting some pastors' kids.
In that time we're also trying to set up exhibitions, shows, or other events that include art and music. If you know anyone who runs a venue, a church, or heck, a back yard with a big porch, we'd love to give them a visit!
In that time we're also trying to set up exhibitions, shows, or other events that include art and music. If you know anyone who runs a venue, a church, or heck, a back yard with a big porch, we'd love to give them a visit!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Drawn From Water
Hey guys! So Tuesday are International Prayer for Drawn From Water!
Please join with us to pray for these kids and for the future rescue of more children!
Please join with us to pray for these kids and for the future rescue of more children!
Monday, November 30, 2009
This is a newsletter written by one of our Pick a Pocket leaders Liz: NEW UPDATES FROM GARBAGE CITY! Click here to read :)
sleep over in the trash... burning all the trashed sandals to keep warm
music dts playing for the kids
sleep over in the trash... burning all the trashed sandals to keep warm
music dts playing for the kids
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
India
The red light area is home of millions of prostitutes as well as their children. We saw many of children who lived in the brothel rooms. There is no law in India that protects these children. Even though it is known that children living with their mothers in the brothel rooms are faced with abuse, there is no law that says that children should not be in the brothel rooms with their mothers. We are so thankful that Vera has such a huge heart for these children and has graciously given nine young girls another hope at life. I just pray that there will arise many more strong women like her in the near future.
Our role is to help the woman, the mothers, the sisters out of prostitution. But it is not easy to see the women leave this profession and come to an alternative life-style. There are reasons why they do not want to leave: 1) the younger women make a lot of money in this area. Why would they want to leave and get a low-paying job? (They can only get low-paying jobs as most of them have never been to school. 2) the older women want to leave as they now make very little money. But it is so hard to find them a place to live and a job without the skills. 3) they have had a very difficult past (being forced into prostitution). So even if they do come out, they are faced with so many addictions and trauma.
As we met with the nuns and Vera about the future “business plans” and introducing the second-hand shop idea. They were really into it and took it very seriously. We talked about what our next steps should be and deiced that we must first get people to commit long-term to oversee the store, help in accounting, and to be a mentor to the women. December marks the date when Vera can receive funds from outside India. We talked about our role and goals in the process and explained that we are here to help with start up costs and to get the business running, enabling it to be self-sustainable.
We met Stephanie the jewelry designer at the home as well and she explained a little bit about her role and her organization (isanctuary). We decided that it would be best for both of us not to partner together. Instead she would be interested in training someone to oversee the jewelry making. We must talk further about when that can happen and exactly what that looks like.
(Thoughts from melody: it was really cool to see how successful Stephanie (from isanctuary) was in this business and inspiring to talk to her and the nuns who are so experienced in working with these ladies, And to meet more people that are passionate about women getting out of sex work and that have more knowledge about how it would work, They encouraged us to think more practically and through this I think I realized how important it is for us to have a really solid structure before we start this thing. I know that things like this work out even when we don’t have this clear structure because we’ve done that before too but I think it’s going to save us a lot of trouble!)
As we think about our future moves, Melody and I are seriously praying about returning to Mumbai to help Vera with the practical side next spring. This would include finding a place to start a shop and getting all the supplies in place(clothes rack, counter, cash register, computer/filing system). In the mean time, Vera must set up an international NGO to receive funds from the outside. These funds will just be for the start up. As she continues to look for a Hindi woman to oversee the store as a manager and another Hindi speaker to do the accounting, she can continue to work with the university students in her area who are helping her get clothes and merchandise to sale.
[[If you have any ideas or input in this please let me know! I’m still in need of monthly support before I even think about leaving on another trip to the East…]]
The future is looking very bright for the group and I hope that the book coming up can open up hearts to help these kinds of situations in other areas of the world. It just takes one small group of people willing to stick together and make a change.
If you have been following my story, I’d love to hear from you. I need all the encouragement I can get as I work to complete the over 100 page book full of art, photos, and design reaching out to our generation to fight for what they believe in .
For more information about the book, please feel free to contact me: stephanie.eatherly@gmail.com
Our role is to help the woman, the mothers, the sisters out of prostitution. But it is not easy to see the women leave this profession and come to an alternative life-style. There are reasons why they do not want to leave: 1) the younger women make a lot of money in this area. Why would they want to leave and get a low-paying job? (They can only get low-paying jobs as most of them have never been to school. 2) the older women want to leave as they now make very little money. But it is so hard to find them a place to live and a job without the skills. 3) they have had a very difficult past (being forced into prostitution). So even if they do come out, they are faced with so many addictions and trauma.
As we met with the nuns and Vera about the future “business plans” and introducing the second-hand shop idea. They were really into it and took it very seriously. We talked about what our next steps should be and deiced that we must first get people to commit long-term to oversee the store, help in accounting, and to be a mentor to the women. December marks the date when Vera can receive funds from outside India. We talked about our role and goals in the process and explained that we are here to help with start up costs and to get the business running, enabling it to be self-sustainable.
We met Stephanie the jewelry designer at the home as well and she explained a little bit about her role and her organization (isanctuary). We decided that it would be best for both of us not to partner together. Instead she would be interested in training someone to oversee the jewelry making. We must talk further about when that can happen and exactly what that looks like.
(Thoughts from melody: it was really cool to see how successful Stephanie (from isanctuary) was in this business and inspiring to talk to her and the nuns who are so experienced in working with these ladies, And to meet more people that are passionate about women getting out of sex work and that have more knowledge about how it would work, They encouraged us to think more practically and through this I think I realized how important it is for us to have a really solid structure before we start this thing. I know that things like this work out even when we don’t have this clear structure because we’ve done that before too but I think it’s going to save us a lot of trouble!)
As we think about our future moves, Melody and I are seriously praying about returning to Mumbai to help Vera with the practical side next spring. This would include finding a place to start a shop and getting all the supplies in place(clothes rack, counter, cash register, computer/filing system). In the mean time, Vera must set up an international NGO to receive funds from the outside. These funds will just be for the start up. As she continues to look for a Hindi woman to oversee the store as a manager and another Hindi speaker to do the accounting, she can continue to work with the university students in her area who are helping her get clothes and merchandise to sale.
[[If you have any ideas or input in this please let me know! I’m still in need of monthly support before I even think about leaving on another trip to the East…]]
The future is looking very bright for the group and I hope that the book coming up can open up hearts to help these kinds of situations in other areas of the world. It just takes one small group of people willing to stick together and make a change.
If you have been following my story, I’d love to hear from you. I need all the encouragement I can get as I work to complete the over 100 page book full of art, photos, and design reaching out to our generation to fight for what they believe in .
For more information about the book, please feel free to contact me: stephanie.eatherly@gmail.com
Sunday, November 22, 2009
India [a photo essay] Day 10
Later, the girls and I were [finally] granted an interview with two of the ladies. Daisy helped with translating, but teasing out their stories was still difficult.
Radha grew up in a small village and was married off at a young age. Soon after her marriage, her husband began to beat her. In her despair, she confessed to a male acquaintance that she wanted to get away from her situation. The man asked her if she wanted to leave with him and she said yes. What happened next is not entirely clear, but she believes the man slipped a pill in her drink and she passed out. When she woke up she did not recognize her surroundings. She was later told she was in Mumbai. At the time she thinks she was only 10 or 12 and already pregnant with her husband’s child. A boy. Years passed. She did not want to tell us about this period of her life. Her son grew up and married, having two daughters of his own. While he was alive, he provided for her. Later, her son passed away leaving her with two grandchildren and a daughter-in-law. With no other family to care for her, she faced a new life of terrible hardship.
With no other options for survival, she started working in the red light district. Her grandchildren played in the streets when she took customers to a room.
Vera met them and began to ask questions about their situation. After a while, she invited the children to come live at her home. Radha is able to visit them occasionally. She reports, “Vera is good and takes care of my grandchildren.”
It may seem shocking to us, but she clearly doesn’t know her true age. She guessed that she may be 45 or so; but decades of life in extreme poverty have not been kind. As an older woman, her earning power as a prostitute fell rapidly and she turned to the owners of the house/brothel requesting money for cleaning and taking care of the house. We asked if there was anything she wanted in her life, and she said that now that her arm and leg are better (she went through a period of bad health) nothing is important to her so long as she knows her grandchildren are safe. Despite her troubles, she maintains a positive attitude. Radha said, “In my life, it is said that I should be sad, but instead I laugh.”
Marchina giggled a lot when we talked to her; yet it was hard to tell if some of that energy came from nervousness. Regardless, she opened up to us and began to tell her story. She grew up in Kolkata. Still single at the age of 18, her neighbors kidnapped her and sold her to workers/a pimp in the red light district in Mumbai. She tried to leave several times after being beat by the house owner, but was powerless to escape. Finally, she enjoyed a short time of freedom staying with a friend, but since they were not related, she was only able to stay for a few months. After five years of living as a sex worker in Mumbai, she married a man and had two children. Her husband treated her very well and provided for her. However, when she went to the hospital to deliver her second child, her husband took all of her money, jewelry, and other possessions and left her. After two months, he returned; but Marchina refused to forgive him or allow back into her life.
After this episode, she started working in the red light again. During this time, a family “adopted her and her children” but this support was short-lived. They soon were not able to care for her anymore so she had to resume sex work again. After a while, she met a man who now lives with her and takes care of her children. He takes them out to play and treats her well, but she refuses to marry him because of her ordeal with the first husband. Marchina wants to leave the district. She says she would be happy if she “could take her children out of the area and clean houses” to make money.
When Vera started her home, she searched the streets for the ladies’ children. She met Marchina’s children. They accepted an invitation to visit the home for 10 days and loved it. Now Marchina is extremely grateful to her. She says, “Vera loves my children so much.” The girls are now twenty and fifteen. The youngest is still allowed to live at the children’s home, but the oldest has to decide whether to continue living in another home with the nuns until she is married or find another path for her life.
After our first encounters with some of the women, Melody, Stephanie, Jardena, and David decided to walk through the red light on their own. Without Karan escorting the group, they received much more attention. Men called out in Hindi, other’s cried out hellos, and child after child ran up to them to shake their hands and ask for money. Later, as they stopped to examine a clothing and fabric shop, David saw a large group of sex workers run for cover when a signal alerted them that police patrol was approaching. They disappeared into the buildings and alleyways. The patrol passed. The women reclaimed their positions.
Over the next few days, there were many opportunities to spend time with Vera, her partners, and the women. The girls met with the ladies and the nuns for lunch. It was more of an introduction to the women, hoping to build trust in our motivations, and to get to know us better. Unfortunately, we lacked translation for most of the time and not much happened other than eating and smiling at each other; yet one of the ladies invited Melody and Stephanie to their home the next day.
... an excerpt from our book: 30 Days
Radha grew up in a small village and was married off at a young age. Soon after her marriage, her husband began to beat her. In her despair, she confessed to a male acquaintance that she wanted to get away from her situation. The man asked her if she wanted to leave with him and she said yes. What happened next is not entirely clear, but she believes the man slipped a pill in her drink and she passed out. When she woke up she did not recognize her surroundings. She was later told she was in Mumbai. At the time she thinks she was only 10 or 12 and already pregnant with her husband’s child. A boy. Years passed. She did not want to tell us about this period of her life. Her son grew up and married, having two daughters of his own. While he was alive, he provided for her. Later, her son passed away leaving her with two grandchildren and a daughter-in-law. With no other family to care for her, she faced a new life of terrible hardship.
With no other options for survival, she started working in the red light district. Her grandchildren played in the streets when she took customers to a room.
Vera met them and began to ask questions about their situation. After a while, she invited the children to come live at her home. Radha is able to visit them occasionally. She reports, “Vera is good and takes care of my grandchildren.”
It may seem shocking to us, but she clearly doesn’t know her true age. She guessed that she may be 45 or so; but decades of life in extreme poverty have not been kind. As an older woman, her earning power as a prostitute fell rapidly and she turned to the owners of the house/brothel requesting money for cleaning and taking care of the house. We asked if there was anything she wanted in her life, and she said that now that her arm and leg are better (she went through a period of bad health) nothing is important to her so long as she knows her grandchildren are safe. Despite her troubles, she maintains a positive attitude. Radha said, “In my life, it is said that I should be sad, but instead I laugh.”
Marchina giggled a lot when we talked to her; yet it was hard to tell if some of that energy came from nervousness. Regardless, she opened up to us and began to tell her story. She grew up in Kolkata. Still single at the age of 18, her neighbors kidnapped her and sold her to workers/a pimp in the red light district in Mumbai. She tried to leave several times after being beat by the house owner, but was powerless to escape. Finally, she enjoyed a short time of freedom staying with a friend, but since they were not related, she was only able to stay for a few months. After five years of living as a sex worker in Mumbai, she married a man and had two children. Her husband treated her very well and provided for her. However, when she went to the hospital to deliver her second child, her husband took all of her money, jewelry, and other possessions and left her. After two months, he returned; but Marchina refused to forgive him or allow back into her life.
After this episode, she started working in the red light again. During this time, a family “adopted her and her children” but this support was short-lived. They soon were not able to care for her anymore so she had to resume sex work again. After a while, she met a man who now lives with her and takes care of her children. He takes them out to play and treats her well, but she refuses to marry him because of her ordeal with the first husband. Marchina wants to leave the district. She says she would be happy if she “could take her children out of the area and clean houses” to make money.
When Vera started her home, she searched the streets for the ladies’ children. She met Marchina’s children. They accepted an invitation to visit the home for 10 days and loved it. Now Marchina is extremely grateful to her. She says, “Vera loves my children so much.” The girls are now twenty and fifteen. The youngest is still allowed to live at the children’s home, but the oldest has to decide whether to continue living in another home with the nuns until she is married or find another path for her life.
After our first encounters with some of the women, Melody, Stephanie, Jardena, and David decided to walk through the red light on their own. Without Karan escorting the group, they received much more attention. Men called out in Hindi, other’s cried out hellos, and child after child ran up to them to shake their hands and ask for money. Later, as they stopped to examine a clothing and fabric shop, David saw a large group of sex workers run for cover when a signal alerted them that police patrol was approaching. They disappeared into the buildings and alleyways. The patrol passed. The women reclaimed their positions.
Over the next few days, there were many opportunities to spend time with Vera, her partners, and the women. The girls met with the ladies and the nuns for lunch. It was more of an introduction to the women, hoping to build trust in our motivations, and to get to know us better. Unfortunately, we lacked translation for most of the time and not much happened other than eating and smiling at each other; yet one of the ladies invited Melody and Stephanie to their home the next day.
... an excerpt from our book: 30 Days
India [a photo essay] - Day 7-9
The guys were waiting for us back at the hotel. As we met with the team, an uncomfortable silence came over the guys. David then informed us that Annie, the woman we were with then entire day, was the madam of her brothel. In other words, she is the one who runs the house, buys the girls, and rents the rooms. I didn't know how to respond to that. Vera told the guys that there was nothing to worry about, she had known Annie for years. But how could this visibly smart, gentle woman be a brothel keeper?
I'm glad she wanted to be our friend :)
The next day, me and the girls went to the market again. I love open streets of booth after booth of locals selling their craft.
One day I would love to have a store that sells food in bulk from local farmers. I want the grain, coffee, teas, rice, and all other cooking items displayed in jars. My goal is to have an environmentally friendly shop, where shoppers bring their re-usable bags to fill up with their ingredients for the week.
DOWN WITH PLASTIC!
Recommended reading for the month:
and
So back to my story...
The following days contained tons of sitting, waiting, and praying.
We had only so many chances to meet with Vera since she lived an hour away. We wanted to do all the we could within the time we had there to ensure that we help these women and their daughters to get out of prostitution
Finally, on the 8th day, Melody, Jardena, and I got a chance to travel across the city to the nun's home. There we 3 nuns who hosted a home for over 30 girls. They are children and young women all rescued from the red light district. In the home they are taught things like sewing, jewelry making, english, and your other basic education.
We talked with the head nuns and shared our aspirations for the new Rahab project: a second-hand store in the center of Mumbai. It was so great to see them take us (a few young YWAMers) seriously. We laid out a business plan. Told them what they should expect from us. What e expect from them. What we see Vera needed as far as finances and workers. And finally, how we can help.
This really got the ball rolling on everything and Rahab Project TWO emerged! The book which is set to be released early next year will hold all information about the women, about Vera, and about how you [the reader] can help practically in making this happen!
I'm hoping to return to Mumbai next year to help with the construction and design of the store.
Rahab has already rescued 4 young women from prostitution in less than a year and we hope to keep that number growing!!
I'm glad she wanted to be our friend :)
The next day, me and the girls went to the market again. I love open streets of booth after booth of locals selling their craft.
One day I would love to have a store that sells food in bulk from local farmers. I want the grain, coffee, teas, rice, and all other cooking items displayed in jars. My goal is to have an environmentally friendly shop, where shoppers bring their re-usable bags to fill up with their ingredients for the week.
DOWN WITH PLASTIC!
Recommended reading for the month:
and
So back to my story...
The following days contained tons of sitting, waiting, and praying.
We had only so many chances to meet with Vera since she lived an hour away. We wanted to do all the we could within the time we had there to ensure that we help these women and their daughters to get out of prostitution
Finally, on the 8th day, Melody, Jardena, and I got a chance to travel across the city to the nun's home. There we 3 nuns who hosted a home for over 30 girls. They are children and young women all rescued from the red light district. In the home they are taught things like sewing, jewelry making, english, and your other basic education.
We talked with the head nuns and shared our aspirations for the new Rahab project: a second-hand store in the center of Mumbai. It was so great to see them take us (a few young YWAMers) seriously. We laid out a business plan. Told them what they should expect from us. What e expect from them. What we see Vera needed as far as finances and workers. And finally, how we can help.
This really got the ball rolling on everything and Rahab Project TWO emerged! The book which is set to be released early next year will hold all information about the women, about Vera, and about how you [the reader] can help practically in making this happen!
I'm hoping to return to Mumbai next year to help with the construction and design of the store.
Rahab has already rescued 4 young women from prostitution in less than a year and we hope to keep that number growing!!
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