Light House, 2022 in Review
We were so excited to hear from Smerin this month with the news of transformed lives and breakthroughs in lifestyles amongst the young women rescued from human trafficking in India.
As you read Smerin’s report, you will be impacted by her love for Jesus and her passion for people, working to see freedom and healing amongst all those she meets.
Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support!
Blessings,
Sharon Baker
SHINING LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS
We are grateful that since 2015 with the support of all our teams, partners especially our friends & donors from Revival Fires under the consistent care and counsel of our spiritual mentors Pastor Trevor & Sharon we are continuing to shine a light into the darkest places here in India impacting, restoring and transforming lives through faith, hope and love.
In 2022 our work is still relevant and crucial because women & girls here in India are the most vulnerable. The facts & figure continues to indicate that they are increasingly unsafe.
A recently released National Crimes Records Bureau report reveals a rape happens every 16 minutes in India and every 74 seconds a case of crime reported against women is registered. Covid 19 pandemic induced lockdown to stop the infection from spreading, but while domestic violence shot up because the perpetrators and victims were confined, the intensity and frequency of the violence rose. During the 6 months of lockdown cases of gender-based violence showed an unprecedented rise in violence, especially in India.
As a social entrepreneur & a champion of Jesus working for the rights and freedom of survivors of human trafficking and at-risk women & girls addressing these various pressing issues, I have seen firsthand how often our Indian justice system has time and again led our women and girls down by not prioritizing perpetrators’ accountability effectively.
Geeta is one such woman - a victim of commercial sexual exploitation now living a life of freedom, dignity and hope. She was rescued from one of Asia’s second-largest red-light area-Sonagachi, Kolkata. There was no legal conviction in her case because she was sold by someone from her village- someone known to her. Geeta now shares that she decided to run away with the man who later sold her because she was sexually assaulted by someone in her own village -also someone known to her. She lived in Shame and guilt. She did not report or ask for help. She shared that if she ever asked for help nobody would believe her.
As we end this year with gratitude, we want to be reminded that these overwhelming facts, figures and statistics are not mere data but they are lives, unlike Geeta who is still trapped desperate for someone like You and Me to help rescue and restore them. We are passionate and deeply committed to continuing our efforts through Advocacy and Restoration Programs because we do not want women and girls like Geeta to live in silence, tricked, trapped and trafficked!
We look ahead to the New Year with firm faith for ‘Breakthrough’. With Your valuable support through our efforts, we want to see strongholds of darkness being broken and generational curses and stereotypes shattered that hinder our women and girls from pursuing their God-given destiny. We want to continue creating safe spaces and atmospheres where women and girls feel safe and protected. Let us continue to come together united to put an end to injustices and inequalities making the world a better place by being the image bearers of Jesus our Lord.
2022: Year of Collective Action
We want to end this year Praising God for His help, strength and nearness in this past year. With the collective actions of all our teams, volunteers, local partners, law enforcement and public agencies we were able to collectively combat human trafficking and other issues of safety that put women and girls at risk.
Fight Against Human Trafficking In India
India is the second-largest country in the world with a current population of 1.3 billion people. Human trafficking in India is one of the country's most prominent human rights issues. In 2020, a U.S. Department of State report identified India as a Tier 2 country. Siliguri is a strategic location widely known as a transit location for Human Trafficking having close borders with Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and China through Sikkim. Since 2015 we have been standing in the gap of combating Human Trafficking with a three-tier mechanism:
Raise Awareness
Reduce Stigma
Restore Lives
Advocacy
With each of your generous support, we have been conducting awareness training in our community for individuals, businesses, first responders, law enforcement, educators, and public employees, among others. We are engaging Volunteers to support our anti-trafficking efforts in the community. We are constantly building our rapport with our local and state officials in our collective action in combating human trafficking and together addressing the gaps. We have reached schools and universities advocating to develop protocols for identifying and reporting a suspected case of human trafficking or responding to a potential victim, especially in rural areas.
While working in the communities we sensitize families and caregivers on indicators of human trafficking & safe migration, on recognizing traffickers’ recruitment tactics, how to safely navigate out of suspicious or uncomfortable situations, and how to reach out for help at any time, On issues of Safeguarding children in the community.
In the past, in collaboration with local non-profit organizations, we worked to sensitize the local Media personnel which plays an enormous role in shaping perceptions and guiding the public conversation about human trafficking. We were part of the training team to share best practices for effectively and responsibly reporting stories on human trafficking.
This year we got the opportunity to assist and accompany as a collaborative partner with the implementing partner DDLF (Darjeeling District Legal Aid Forum during The Bengal Commission For Women’s team visit to Siliguri to see firsthand the proposed areas for Shelter Homes for female survivors of 18 years and above. We have been working this year to plan and strategize how we can effectively support DDLF as a collaborative partner to cater to the psycho-social needs of the survivors placed at the Government approved shelter in Siliguri.
Restoration Programs
Stigma and societal stereotypes catalyze the trafficking of women & children
Fear of shame and isolation keeps survivors of sex trafficking from seeking help and it often exposes them to further abuse and exploitation. Often survivors after rescue when rehabilitated by their families are disowned by them. The guilt and shame they experience because so often their own family and community blame them for their ordeal without holding the traffickers and the perpetrators accountable. This is where our role as an organization here in India is crucial as we go above and beyond in making sure every survivor of human trafficking is restored holistically. We not only work with communities to reduce stigma through our advocacy with communities and caregivers we also work to equip them with skills to economically empower them.
We have been providing need and aptitude-based skill training to the survivors of human trafficking and at-risk women and girls of North Bengal. This Year we helped provide skill training to 8 survivors with job placements at Beauty and Hair Care Salon, Front Office Executive, and Security personnel at City Centre.
Trauma Informed Care
Trauma Informed Care has been an important tool and a lens that helps us as an organization to engage with survivors with greater sensitivity. We have integrated trauma-informed practices to help each survivor in their path of recovery. We provide tools to survivors and children we work with to cope with the stress caused by the trauma they have experienced.
To address the vast mental health needs of the women and children we work with, we require more trained counsellors in the next year and we hope with Your Support we will be able to address this need in 2023.
Sewing Project
We provide alternative livelihood through our Sewing Project empowering women & girl survivors escaping poverty and those rescued from sex trafficking and domestic violence. Since 2015 we have been providing vocational training in tailoring to over 50 plus of these women and girls.
Today Some of the women whom we trained have small-scale businesses that help them provide for themselves and their families. In response to Covid-19, we supported our adult survivors and at-risk women to self-sustain by making 15,000 facemasks for local buyers, stakeholders and organizations. The proceeds from the sale were utilized for procuring raw materials. The profits were given to the survivors and at-risk women involved in making these facemasks. We also made 5,000 facemasks for free community distribution.
This year we continued our tradition of spreading some Christmas cheer by making hand-embroidered Christmas-themed products for the Pre-order Christmas sale. The profits made from selling these products are given to these women & girls as Christmas pocket money and to cover the cost of the raw materials.
2022 Activities at a glance
Praise God! We handed over Training CourseCompletion Certification over a great celebration lunch appreciating each other and blessing one another over Lord's faithfulness in helping these gorgeous girls pursue their new life of freedom with dignity. Each of these girls was mentored by us speaking truth and healing in their lives with our daily love and care. Some days were hard, and some days we together celebrated small to big milestones in their restoration journey. As a team, the Lord is helping us learn and grow personally as we minister to them.
In 2022 the Lord continues to take us to dark places where the Light of Jesus needs to be released. At the end of September, we welcomed another survivor rescued from child labour exploitation in Sikkim. She is embraced by the Light House family. When she first arrived, she was found to be having withdrawals because of her Smoking Addiction. Our team held her hands through those difficult times praying with her over her. Now she is using positive coping skills and opening her heart slowly to the good news of Christ. We have enrolled her in computer skill training. Our team had a great time rejoicing this year as another of our current batch survivors got a Job placement as a Security Personnel.
MEDIA COVERAGE OF OUR WORK IN INDIA
A Reputed National Print Media acknowledged our efforts to restore and transform the lives of survivors of human trafficking and women & girls at risk. We praise God that we can do groundbreaking work in this part of India because each one of you chooses to sow into our ministry helping us stand in the gaps as Christ’s image bearers.
With your generous support, we could bless the women and children of the red-light area of Khalpara Siliguri during this Christmas season. Each time we visit this area, we pray that God would continue to use us to bring light into their lives.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
It was such a joy for us to minister to these marginalized women & girls who are outcasted by our very society. We shared the gift of Christ’s redemptive love with them telling them why they matter to Him. We were reminded of the Story of Christ’s birth that he is indeed the Prince of Peace, the Great Counsellor, The Mighty God, Emmanuel. There is eternal hope and Salvation in Him if we believe in Him and accept Him as our personal Saviour.
We witnessed how awe-struck and encouraged these women and girls were to taste what it means to be loved by Jesus and experience His touch. We saw heaven’s gate open to rejoice with us as we prayed over them. Many asked us later if we could pray for them. We are excited to continue ministering to them in the days ahead in 2023.
WE THANK GOD AND YOU OUR DEAR FRIENDS AND DONORS for your gift of friendship, prayers and finances in 2022. We wouldn't be able to be the salt and light of Jesus Christ here in India without your valuable intentional support. We are immensely grateful for You in our lives and ministry. We wish each one of you a Great Blessed Year with the Holy Spirit as our Guide restoring every part of our lives, witnessing miracles, breakthroughs, restoration of our relationships and parts of hearts that need repairs putting us back on track to a New Destiny & Adventure in 2023.
Smerin
