Day 4 - M Home

Day 4 - M Home 

Visiting M  Home is always one of the highlights of this  trip. M is an aftercare home that houses 25 girls that have been rescued.  The organization has grown every year since I have been coming. Last year they opened up a "transition" home for majors (girls over 18) and in April they will open M Home 2.  More on that later.

What exactly is an "aftercare home" you may ask?  Well it's basically a safe house for girls that have been rescued from trafficking. They employ an amazing staff of house mothers, counselors, case workers, security staff and drivers, etc to insure that they the girls are on the path to healing. Some of the girls are involved in the court case against their traffickers so there are strict rules about them attending school, etc. but most attend school every day.  In the evenings a tutor comes to help the girls with lessons and a dance teacher comes to teach as well. Dance, theatre, and singing are some of the ways the girls receive therapy from their traumatic ordeal of being trafficked and sold into the flesh trade. 

We started with a few games with the girls (musical chairs, human knot, etc). Then we helped them with a cool craft that will also be a decoration for the home. We brought a huge blank 36 piece puzzle and all of the girls decorated their own piece. Each piece was approximately 6" X 5" and they decorated it with scrapbook paper, jewels, markers, metallic wire, beads, ribbons, etc. it was very girly and fun. We laid the pieces out to dry and then tomorrow when we return to spend another day with them we will adhere it onto a board to make it into a wall hanging. We are hoping it will be a visual reminder that they are each different and special in their own way. 

The highlight of the day was a visit to a construction/renovation site that will be the future home of M Home 2.  Bashibi gave us a tour of the home and showed us the renovations that must be made before the home can open in April. Sadly they are receiving much opposition from the surrounding neighbors. Although the girls that will be living there did not choose their current circumstances, society still sees them in a very negative light. 

During our quiet time before the visit we had all journaled scriptures to be written on the walls of the home. They will be covered up once the home is painted but they will still be there. :) We each took a sharpie and had a time of prayer as we walked around the home individually writing different scriptures that the Lord had given us for the home. It was a very special time and one I will never forget. The fact that these young girls that will be living in this beautiful safe home in 3 months are currently living in a brothel/prison and are forced to do the unthinkable reminds me of the verse from Psalm 12:

Into the hovels of the poor, into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks: 

"I've had enough; I'm on my way to heal the ache India the heart of the wretched."