October 2011 Update

It’s official. After months, weeks, and days of preparation and planning, we have GREAT NEWS to share with our A21 friends...

We have the registration for our Kiev transition home! Paintbrushes are dipped, walls are coated, and we’re ready to enter into the next stage of opening this new home! Furnishing the house is our next step and we’re excited about getting started.

The house is no longer a dream, but a reality and will be a haven for women to begin a new life. For those who have partnered with us to make this happen, we appreciate you!

Now that we have our transition home, we can begin to aid women like Nadia.*

As an infant, Nadia was a product of the Bulgarian orphanage system. She had no father to nurture or affirm her. She had no mother to love or coddle her. She knew nothing of her identity or culture as she waded in the mire of government care for twelve years...until there was change.

At the age of twelve, she was told she was going to leave the orphanage because she had been adopted. When she heard this news, we can only begin to imagine the dreams she must have had for a new life and hope for her future.

She, however, was unknowingly sold into Poland by her adoptive parents. Before she had the chance of becoming a teenager, she was trafficked to a foreign country against her will. Four years later she was again sold to another country without a voice, a name, or an identity. From one country to another and again to another, Nadia lost years of her life as she passed from one man’s hands to another through trafficking.

Vulnerable and alone, she was trafficked again and sold to a man in Turkey for the equivalent of $400 USD. Her life was sold for the fourth time for $400 dollars. En route for Turkey, she managed to run down the street and in an attempt escape. Her trafficker, however, caught up with her and ran her over with his car, critically injuring her.

While in the hospital, the police were made aware of the situation and contacted us for intervention. We were able to provide more than a house, but a home for the innocent woman who had been hopeless, homeless, and helpless. Because of our generous support from our partners and donors, we are able to continue to be a friend to the wanderer and a home for the broken.  But for Nadia, we were able to give her a chance at life she otherwise wouldn’t have had.

It is for women like Nadia that we are beyond excited to continue our pursuits in opening our Kiev transition home.

This month in Greece, we were beyond honored to join the International Office of Migration (IOM) and the US Embassy in Athens, Greece for a leadership discussion regarding human trafficking. The event brought in top leaders, public officials, and politicians from Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria to address human slavery.

Not only were we the only NGO invited, we were treated as comrades in the fight against freedom. We are making headway with local officials and wanted to share this great news with you!

We are also excited to announce that the A21 Key Necklaces are back by popular demand, and have been completely re-designed and improved! We have made it possible for you to preorder yours today, so that you will be guaranteed to receive it in time for our global KEY2FREE day on November 11th. Sign up to join the KEY2FREE movement and start planning what outrageous ways you will make a statement for freedom this year.

For the last month we’ve been dreaming of ways to make partnership very easy and accessible in the fight for justice. We know the power of people binding together to stand for freedom, for what is right, and for what is good.  We launched our 21:21 Campaign because increments of $21 can make daily, weekly, and monthly impacts.

Our partnership campaign was launched as a way to sustain, maintain, and financially prepare for our global work in education, prevention, restoration, and transition for each of our women. We are passionate about making a way for survivors to find complete restoration, and are committed to seeing their dreams come true.

 Thank you so much for being a part of The A21 Campaign, and for all you are contributing to help these precious women. Together, we will continue to make a greater difference in our world.