Ashley

I don’t know why, but I love sleeping on trains! This time I woke up to a man walking up and down the aisle, offering chai to passengers. Before long we arrived in Mumbai, the third city on our itinerary. An hour or so later we made it to the YMCA, but there wasn’t even enough time to shower, and trust me, after 16+ hours on a train, we all could have used one! So it was back on the bus, which had one too few seats, and off to Saint Catherine’s and then IJM.

Saint Catherine’s is an aftercare home for abandoned children, minors rescued from prostitution, and children with HIV and AIDS. Sister Cecily took the time to explain the circumstances behind the lives of the children that she receives into her aftercare home. Some are abandoned on doorsteps, left in the market, or lose their guardians by some misfortune or another.  Others are stolen, or even sold by their parents, and forced to work in the sex trade, while others are born in brothels and know no other life. Many more lose their parents to HIV or AIDS. Sadly, these diseases are often passed on to the children as well.  While there is a variety of different roads that lead a child to Saint Catherine’s, they all arrive feeling unloved, unwanted, and shameful. After Sister Cecily briefed us on the history, I was prepared to meet children who had never had a childhood; who wore their painful history in their eyes and on their faces. I was sure my heart would break, and it did, but for a different reason. The children I met were absolutely beautiful. They were smiling, laughing, running, playing, and even dancing.  They were curious and friendly, and looking at them I would never have know that they had experienced a side of life most of us will never truly be able to comprehend. I was overwhelmed by the love that the sisters had for these children.

While no one wanted to leave the children, our next stop at the International Justice Mission was pretty great, too. At IJM we spoke with a gentleman who has uprooted his family from the U.S. in order to help minors escape from India’s sex trade. At times Aaron would even help the police perform raids on local brothels. These raids, he said, were particularly tricky because much of the police force is corrupt and would tip off the brothel owners. Minors would be hidden under the floorboards, in secret rooms, and smuggled out the back of the establishments. Many of the girls would even run away from the police who were trying to help them because they had been threatened by the brothel owners. At times it could be tough, but he definitely loved his work!