Empower Abused and Trafficked Vietnamese Women

I’ve never really gotten along with anybody. It all started with my parents who divorced when I was fifteen. At first, I was in conflict with my father. And then with my mother. Although I was intelligent and accomplished, these difficulties at home left me contemplating suicide. 

I finally thought I was doing well when I finished my first year of university. But then I was kidnapped and forced to marry the man who smuggled me away from my home to the capital city. Eventually, I escaped but had nowhere to go. Luckily, I found Hagar, participated in one of their vocational training programs and got a job in the kitchen at Joma Bakery Café. I did so well that I became employed by a few foreign families. That’s when I began my relationship with an older man—a Westerner. 

Things didn’t work out with him and a few years later I found myself in trouble in Malaysia. I had overstayed the visa I got to work in a Chinese factory. My case manager at Hagar helped me return to Vietnam but then I reentered the country illegally to be with my African boyfriend who I met online. 

All was well for the first few months of our relationship. I was pregnant and happy. But then I unexpectedly found myself caught in a drug trafficking ring and was asked by my new family and friends to participate in the trade. When I refused, the father of my child destroyed my belongings and came after me. 

Hagar tried to rescue me through a partner organization where I was staying. The staff even went as far as to contact the embassy on my behalf. But I was too caught up in all the brokenness and the pain of my life to receive the help that was being offered. Nevertheless, my original caseworker maintained contact with me. I am now home and am trying to reintegrate with my family. 

Sometimes I look at my life and wonder how with so much promise, everything still turned out this way. Why I was brought up in such a destructive environment and why this experience continues to influence my choices? My whole life it has seemed that everyone has just given up on me—has either let me down or despised me. But through it all has Hagar has been there, is there and will continue to be there for me even when I haven’t done the best job of being there for myself.

Links:

• Read more stories.