This morning we wanted to update you on our newest – our youngest – resident at Courage House! She is just a baby: 8 years old. I try to imagine what is like for someone so young to be repeatedly sold for sex and then removed from her home to come to a new place surrounded by strangers promising her a new life. Frankly, it is hard for me to even fathom.
Fortunately for this young one, she had her 9 and 16 year old sisters to welcome her. The Courage House staff has reported that she is settled and doing well.
The oldest sister has been with us at Courage House Tanzania since she was 12 years old and we are happy to report that she is thriving. After recently suspecting what was happening to her little sisters, she informed our staff and passionately advocated for their rescue. She wanted to give them what she had received. Our social workers immediately investigated and confirmed that these children were also being horrifically abused and trafficked. There was no way we could turn away from them even though we didn’t have the funds for additional residents. Our staff got creative in making room for these young ones as there were no other options available for their rescue. In Tanzania, we do not have resources like foster care as an option. Law enforcement often doesn’t even see this as a crime. So we at Courage Worldwide keep saying yes – believing in them until they can believe in themselves.
Today we received a photo of the sisters in their new school uniforms. Their smiles say it all. They are safe. They are with their sisters and others who will love them during their journey of healing and restoration. Their exploitation has ended but for others it continues…
Globally, did you know that children are being trafficked and sold for sex and raped often 10 or more times a day? Right now, the average age for a girl at Courage House Tanzania is 15 years old, but the trafficking and exploitation has started much earlier. Girls often come to Courage House at 13 years old, and many even younger. Sadly, their own family members, the ones that should protect them, are involved in their exploitation. A juvenile court judge in California shared with us that every day in her courtroom she hears cases of a parent selling their children for sex. That is why we do what we do around the world – build them homes and call them family. We pray for the day when homes like Courage House are not needed.
Thank you for all of you who have joined us in rescuing and restoring of these children and young women. Because of your generosity and faithfulness, they are safe, they are home and they are loved. We ask for your continued prayerful support to help us with costs of our new girls and their needs. We need you to keep saying yes so we can! Please share with others. To donate, click on this button or mail a check to the address below. Thank you.
P.S. We also take checks! You can mail your donation to 3031 Stanford Ranch Rd., Suite 2, #339, Rocklin, CA 95765