A Story Someone Had Already Lived 

One of the students who attended the performance had lived almost the exact story the drama depicted. He had been bartered for, sold, and forced into exploitation before he escaped to the streets and was welcomed into one of Hope For Justice's Lighthouses, a safe shelter where children receive trauma informed care while their families are located. Today he is home again, and he now shares his experience with other young people to help them recognize the danger before it finds them. 

Meeting Children Where They Are

Stories like his are the reason our partner’s local outreach teams walk the streets of Ethiopia's cities every day and night, looking for children who are in exploitation or at risk of it. This past month, their outreach reached 59 boys, both children already being trafficked and children a broker was targeting next. 

Another 19 children were referred to a Lighthouse by partner organizations, police, or government ministries, and 93 children in total received safe shelter and trauma informed care there. Seven girls received legal support to pursue justice against the people who exploited them. Forty five children were reunited with their families, and 67 more are still in the follow up process that helps make sure a reunion lasts. 

Hope For Justice's team describes what that reunion looks like in the room: tears, joy, and elation, sometimes after years apart. 

Stopping the Story Before It Starts 

A rescue only happens after harm has already begun. That is why, this year, your support is also funding work that reaches families before a broker ever does. In the drama, it was a family's poverty, and a stranger's smartphone, that made trafficking possible. Hope For Justice's newest work in Ethiopia is built to change that equation for entire communities. 

This past month, the team conducted 50 Participatory Rural Appraisals, a process that brings a community together to map its own risks, resources, and support systems. They also completed 2,707 household visits to the families of women joining self help groups, and helped establish 138 new self help groups, each with about 19 women, giving nearly 2,600 women a place to build savings and support one another. 

Already, in this early stage, those groups have saved the equivalent of about $180 together. Alongside this, 129 people took part in community based training on the realities of modern slavery and trafficking, the same warning signs that appear in the students' drama. 

Their Hopes, Now Within Reach

When the team asked the young people at the school what they hope for their future, here is what they said. "After my education, I wish to be here, serving my community." "I want to be a pilot." "I want to be a scientist." "I want to be an engineer." "A doctor." "A social worker." A year ago, some of these same children were focused only on surviving the day. Because of you, they are now free to imagine a future.

Thank You

To everyone who supports the Young Living Foundation, thank you. Because of your generosity, a boy who was sold twice before his family found him is now home. Ninety three children have a safe place to heal, seven girls have a path to justice, and nearly 2,600 women are building a defense against poverty strong enough to keep the next child off that stage. Every outreach visit. Every Lighthouse. Every self help group. Together, they tell the story of a community choosing hope, before the story about exploitation has to be written at all. 

Continue the Impact