Through our partnership with Her Future Coalition, donations provided a safe space and high quality after-school tutoring for one year to 60 children of women in forced prostitution in India, a crucial step in breaking the cycle of slavery and poverty. | January & February, 2020 – India
$4,060 Donated!
THANK YOU from our sisters in India!
Sarah Symons takes us on a walk through Calcutta. Learn about her LOVE of the people and place and why this fundraiser was such a gift to her organization.
WHY this MATTERS to ME …
With all my heart, I believe that the lights of our lives turn ON when we find ways to love, care, and serve each other … especially those on the margins, the outsiders, the hungry, the sick, the vulnerable. So, pay attention to what makes your heart thrum, brings tears to your eyes, a knot in your stomach. I believe those are the things that are often clues to our next steps and leaps … to our purpose on the planet … and is what makes our lives glow.
We are honored to be a part of a very urgent and critical need for 60 children.
… After-school tutoring will be provided to 60 children for 1 year in one of HFC’s Red Light Area Resource Centers in Kolkata in India.
… Rather than being on the streets, at risk to those that would prey on their vulnerability, these kids will be provided with a safe place and be productively occupied while their mothers are engaged in forced prostitution.
… For one whole year, these 60 kids will be in a loving, compassionate, and nurturing community AND have a far greater opportunities to stay and succeed in school.
WHY this is so IMPACTFUL & IMPORTANT …
I am passionate about giving survivors – and girls at the highest risk for gender based violence – the tools they need to rebuild their lives and create their own bright futures. It is out of this passion that Her Future Coalition (HFC) was born. Through HFC, we provide shelter, education, employment, therapeutic arts, and counseling in an environment of dignity and LOVE, and it works! It is my greatest joy to see girls go from a place of such hopelessness and despair (immediately following rescue) to a place of independence, joy and giving back. -Sarah Symons, HFC founder
Sarah Symons shared with me that what drove her to start Her Future Coalition (and what she cannot bear) is this:
… 13 year-old girls forced to service 15 or 20 men each night in a brothel
… Girls so deeply in their trauma, they can’t feel their own arms or legs
… Elementary-aged children who cannot attend school, but spend much of each night hiding from predators in red light areas
… Little girls living on the streets, always sleeping face down and covering their heads with blankets, so passersby won’t know they are girls and sexually assault them
… Survivors who don’t know how, or don’t dare to express what they want to do in any given moment, simple choices like what to wear or what to eat, and more important decisions, like whether they want to go back to school or do vocational training. They veer wildly between passivity and rage. They trust no one because everyone in their life who was supposed to love and protect them has let them down.
Fifteen years ago, we launched Her Future because I – and my husband a few committed friends – decided to do something about situations like these. Together we fight the continuous violence and dehumanization against the most vulnerable girls in the world, and get the see the future transformed for thousands. -Sarah Symons, HFC founder
ABOUT Her Future Coalition …
Her Future Coalition works with survivors of trafficking and human rights abuses providing them with the skills and resources to be free forever. They have been providing shelter, education and high-quality employment to survivors of human trafficking and abuse for fifteen years. They have helped over 4,000 survivors and their families heal and thrive – becoming forever free – in India, Nepal, Cambodia and Thailand. (How amazing is that?) More about their impact and vision on their website.
CREATIVE ways to CONTINUE to support this organization …
1 – DONATE HERE. A few creative ideas for GIVING: ASK FOR A DONATION to be made as a gift for your next birthday … GIVE a gift in honor of someone you love for an upcoming holiday or celebration. FORM A TEAM on Facebook or GoFundMe and raise funds for a special occasion or celebration in your life … or just because you want to!
3 – CONNECT WITH, follow, and friend Her Future Coalition:
Website | Facebook & Insta
4 – SHARE! Send this link to 5 PEOPLE passionate about human trafficking, making a difference, education, our global community, and/or human rights. Let’s see how we can EXPAND this organization’s community connections!
5 – LEARN MORE with these resources suggested by Sarah Symons: Movie: “The Day my God Died” | Book: “Sold” by Patricia McCormick or “Sex Slaves” by Louise Brown
6 – WATCH
My conversation with Sarah Symons about why it matters so very much to her to create freedom and bright futures for survivors of human trafficking in India.
My conversation with Soma Seal, director of HFC in India, who joins us from her home outside of Calcutta, India.
“It Takes a Girl”, about HFC’s work around the world bringing freedom and a fresh start to survivors of human trafficking.
“Living Heroically”, Sarah Symons’ Ted Talk.
JOIN US as an EVERYDAY PHILANTHROPIST …
As part of our call to all to be an everyday philanthropist, each month I spotlight a project or program in the world. Our partner’s focus is in at least one of these five categories: human rights, education, health, community emergencies, and art-activism. I am blessed with a huge pool of changemakers in my community – so there is never a lack of trusted organizations with whom to partner.
This sort of “everyday philanthropy” is about an unrestrained generosity rooted in the reality of your everyday life. Generosity feels good. It is part of your purpose on the planet. It finds ways to share with others the treasure trove of whatever you have and whatever you love. It makes a difference with your small and large acts alike … living with a commitment and connection to your sisters and brothers near and far. Explore and discover your unique – right here and now – calling to be an everyday philanthropist today.
I get it: These stories and the very invitation to give and to BE philanthropists isn’t always comfortable. Or easy. Sometimes it’s the world’s pain pricking our hearts that wakes us up to see – and say yes! – to our destiny.
So, today and together, let’s dispute the suggestion that philanthropy is an exclusive club only for those deemed wealthy. Today and together, let’s dispute that the only thing that matters and makes a difference is giving in “big” ways. The movement that will be unleashed when we live as generously unrestrained philanthropists WILL light up the world.
You are loved.
We belong to each other.
Let’s standTALL together and light up the world!
xo, -Sarah Davison-Tracy, Seeds of Exchange
