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Reported by Abha

Preeti is a shy 12 years old girl who is from a village in Madhya Pradesh, India. This is one of the villages where people of the Banchara community live. This community is very rigid in its culture and rituals and it is said that they are unkind also. In her family Preeti was only surviving instead of living. She lived  with her uncle and aunt. Preeti's father died when she was 3 years old. He was  a heavy alcoholic and drug addict. She lost her mother at  age 8 to dengue fever due to lack of medical treatment. She has an elder sister  who is 15 years old. Preeti believes her sister was  secretly sold to a pimp from Mumbai. This way of life is  typical in the whole belt of villages of Madhya Pradesh. There are girls younger then Preeti facing these same challenges in their everyday life. It is very common for parents and relatives to sell their own children or send them into the profession of prostitution. It is ritually sanctioned so the mindset of these families is to devote their girls to this profession. I was a struggling counselor equipped with my six month education module in Preeti's village. My friend Mina; associated with  a women's  welfare association, was with me and we had to be extra careful while teaching the young girls and women of the villages. There were threats from their fathers & brothers who make their living on these girls.  Indeed process and results were very slow due to the extreme social pressure on the girls & women. Preeti was a part of my counseling programmes. In Sept. 2008 Preeti shared with Mina and I that her uncle was planning to sell her to the same man who previously visited their house in regards to  her sister. We noticed she was sensing  danger and scared for her life. It was a challenge to remove this girl from her abusive family environment. They hit her repeatedly when she denied going to Mumbai. That night she was threatened again by her uncle & aunt for  leaving the house without permission. She ran away the next day from  her uncle’s home got on the bus and reached  Mina's house.  Mina and I had already given her our addresses and phone numbers to contact us in any situation. This was our action plan to respond to Preeti's problem. Now Preeti is at  the safehouse.  She escaped just in time. She has horrible memories of the past and her behavior is unnatural due to the trauma yet she is learning slowly to laugh with the other children. She is feeling the love of a family in the safehouse.  She also attends school. Reading, writing and multiplication terrify her but she will gradually learn it in time with regular study. We can raise  our voices and tell their stories and offer help for these  girls who are constantly facing these challenges. With love, determination, hard work and finances we can give these children emotional stability, shelter, food, health, and education! It is the solution for unloved and abused  children. It  gives them hope and brings them back into the mainstream of society.