Every year around 10,000 Nepalese girls are trafficked into the red light districts in Indian cities. Many of the girls are barely 9 or 10 years old. Approximately 200,000 to 250,000 Nepalese women and girls are already in Indian brothels. Parents sell their daughters and husbands get rid of their young unwanted wives for $200 to $600. Depending on her beauty, a girl can fetch anywhere from less than a water buffalo, to slightly more than a video recorder. Some of the girls are tricked into fraudulent marriages, or promised employment in towns only to find themselves in Hindustan's brothels. They're locked up for days, starved, beaten, and burned with cigarettes until they learn how to service up to 25 clients a day. Some girls go through 'training' before being initiated into prostitution, which can include constant exposure to pornographic films, tutorials in how to 'please' customers, and repeated rapes. Often the girls remain in the brothels for 5 years, until they are rescued or until they are abandoned because they have been infected with HIV.

 

This month I am blessed to be able to work with an amazing organization called Asha Nepal (http://ashanepal.org/), an organization that gives hope to sexually exploited women and their children. They serve as a safe home to women rescued from the sex trafficking industry. Asha Nepal works with the women and children to help them gain self-worth and promotes restoration by rescuing, counseling, and training them in a skill of their choosing. My days here in Nepal began with a morning run down to the local tea shop that is ran by two lovely women that once called Asha Nepal home. After having 1 or 2 cups of tea and chatting with the women, I jog back to the house where I have lunch (*AKA* breakfast) with the kids. Following breakfast I help the ladies in the kitchen wash dishes. After only a few short days here I have already fallen in love with the women and developed a friendship with two of the youngest women here. At only 19 years old they are stronger than most of the women I know. Although neither of us understands each other’s language, my conversations with them in the kitchen are unforgettable. Even after all they have experienced, they still have a joy that radiates from within. Over the next 4 weeks they are going to teach me to cook some of their favorite Nepalese dishes, and in return I get to love them with all that I have. I am also working on a 5-year plan and counseling manual designed to help the women regain their self worth, become financially self-sufficient and through empowerment and recovery be able to live on their own. God has already shown up here in so many ways, and I am so excited to see more of what He is going to do over the next month.
 

 
***I am still SUPPORT RAISING!!! I need $3000 by the end of next month to continue this AMAZING journey…I would love for you to be a part of it…every little bit helps!!!

Love Y'all…Mean It!!!
Chelsie Layne