A fund to rescue children from slavery in Nepal

Recently came the news that two young girls had been rescued from Kathmandu's main bus station. They were just 12 and 14 years old. Both were friends from the same remote village in Sudurpashchim Province, which borders Tibet to the north and India to the south. The older girl had received a friend request on Facebook from someone she didn't know, but accepted it anyway. The man she connected with offered paid work in Kathmandu at his 'Maize Milling' factory.

Desperate to get out of their village and have an adventure, the girls accepted his offer, ran away from their families and travelled to the capital by bus. Fortunately for them our staff regularly patrol the bus garage and spotted the girls alone when the man had gone to get food. The girls shared their plans, and we warned them that they had fallen for a typical trafficker's trick and were in grave danger. The man ran off as soon as he saw us.

The girls are now at our safe home, Marigold House, and we will make contact with their families soon. Our hope is that they will go home and back to school, but only after they have received severe warnings as to what a very lucky escape they have had.

We are pleased to share with you that we have recently rescued a 15-year-old girl called Mina (name changed).  However her story is truly tragic and almost unbearable to type. She comes from a large, dysfunctional family who lived just outside Kathmandu, relying on agriculture for income. 

Mina's desperately poor mother brought her to Kathmandu to find work when she was just ten years old.  Initially Mina worked in a dance bar without pay.  Over the years she moved to different dance bars, being forced to service male customers but having to hand over her earnings. The dance bar owners said that feeding her and giving her a place to stay was enough. 

Eventually she moved to a small restaurant, thinking that her experience there would be better.  She expected to clean and wait on tables but was once again forced into sexual slavery, having to have sex with between 5 and 10 men each day. She says that at this time she was in "severe pain." 

Our partner Shakti Samuha heard about Mina through their outreach worker and moved swiftly to rescue her. Needless to say after five years of constant abuse she is very traumatised. We are giving her all the time she needs – just assuring her that she is safe. 

We are so glad that Marigold House exists to offer a safe haven to girls like Mina – but we dearly wish that it wasn't needed. Thank you to all who fund our work, helping us give time, space and safety to girls like Mina as they start to rebuild the pieces of their broken lives.  

We are very pleased to share with you that we have recently rescued a boy and a girl from India. They were both living in public shelters, having been trafficked across the Nepal border four years ago. Without paperwork, Nepalese children become stranded in India – which is why they need to be rescued and brought home.

Sunita* was 12 when her stepmother sent her away with £3, telling her to get married and never return home. She met a stranger who tried to take her to his home in Hajipur, India. Fortunately, they were stopped by a policeman, who grew suspicious when the man started changing his story. The man ran away and Sunita was placed in a state-funded home for girls in India. Sunita was unable to contact her family for the next four years. She lived with 250 other girls and women of all ages and backgrounds – some of whom were mentally ill. For many reasons it wasn’t a safe place. In fact, the home is currently under investigation following reports of staff members abusing women and girls. Sunita told us that there wasn’t enough food and that she had to share a bed with two others. Sometimes she was beaten for no reason.

Palin* dropped out of school when his father committed suicide. He was just 10 years old when he started working at a garage to be able to buy food. At the age of 12, he was trafficked to Bihar in India by a relative who promised him a job. He was forced to smuggle electrical goods across the border, but ran away after his relative started punching and kicking him. He took shelter in a temple, but people cursed him and called him a thief. He got scared and went to the local police for help, which is how he ended up in a boys’ home for four years.

This is the first rescue we have undertaken with our new partner, ChoraChori Nepal, who have a strong history of rescuing Nepali children from India. They first became aware of Sunita and Palin at the beginning of 2021, but tracing their families and getting all the paperwork in place has been a long process. The children are now at ChoraChori’s safe home, where they are spending time with an experienced counsellor. Family integration will only take place if all the appropriate safeguarding checks are in place. Thank you for your support which enables us to rescue children like these and restore their childhoods to them.

*names changed

We are very pleased to let you know that at the end of November we rescued a 13-year-old boy and brought him to safety. He had been working in a dirty and dangerous metalwork factory.

National lockdowns, Covid-19 and changes in government personnel had been hampering our rescues; many places are locked up, with children out of sight and out of reach.

However we received a tip off from someone in our network that a young boy had been spotted working in a metalwork factory. We quickly contacted the local police who were able to act immediately. 

The boy was washing his hands as we entered the factory. When he saw the police he was scared and tried to escape, but we were able to reassure him. He said he was 14 but he seems much younger – 13 or even 12.

The boy is now safe in our Transit Home. He comes from the Solukhumbu district and hadn't been in Kathmandu for long. 

We are in the process of tracing his family and giving him informal education until he can be enrolled in school. 

Thank you for your support which enables us to rescue children like this young boy, and restore their childhoods to them.

We have a great story to share with you! We rescued 14-year-old Ishwar* from a factory back in January and this week he was happily reunited with his family!

Home life was very difficult for Ishwar. His father was an alcoholic, and regularly beat up the other members of his family. Ishwar’s mother joined forces with some of the other villagers and managed to get Ishwar’s father admitted to a drug rehabilitation centre for six months.

After this, Ishwar and his mother came to Kathmandu. Ishwar’s uncle had a factory that made iron grills for windows and promised to enrol Ishwar in school. But that never happened. Instead, Ishwar worked from 9am to 6pm without any training or safety equipment.

When we found Ishwar he was terrified. He was afraid of the police and didn’t want to say anything. Gently we won his trust and he told us his story. We made contact with Ishwar’s mother but she said she couldn’t afford to feed her son or pay for school expenses. We decided that it was best to keep Ishwar with us in the short term, and made sure that they kept in touch.

When Ishwar’s father came out of rehab, he was a different man. He went back to live with his wife again, and we observed the family situation for three months. Finally everyone agreed that Ishwar and his family were ready to be reunited, and in the presence of ward representatives, the papers were signed.

Ishwar is now living with his father and mother in a room on the outskirts of Kathmandu. His father is working, his mother is a housewife and Ishwar is enrolled at a local school. We are in regular contact and will continue to support the family as much as is needed. When he completes his education, Ishwar will join our youth training programme.

Ishwar’s father says, “I am very happy today to see my child after a period of about one year. In the past, I did mistakes but from now onwards I will not repeat such things in my life. Thank you for the care and support provided to my son.”

Ishwar’s mother says, “I will have good sleep today, as my family members are together again. Thank you to all the members of the organisation.”

Ishwar says, “I am happy and sad too. I am happy because now I can live with my both parents and also can go to my sister’s house. And sad because I have made very close friends at the safe home and I will miss the love and care of uncle and aunt.”

It is thanks to supporters like you that we were able to rescue Ishwar, care for him and safely bring this family back together. What a happy ending!

*Whilst Ishwar's name has been changed, the family have given full permission for us to share their story.