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SA Informer Newsletter

Welcome to the new format of The SA Foundation's Informer Newsletter! You can look forward to bi-monthly updates about our programs and services around the world. Thank you so much for your interest and support as we move to enrich the lives of women and their children who have escaped sexual exploitaiton. So much has happened since the last newsletter, and we're looking forward to catching you up on all that is happening here at The SA Foundation.

Update on Nepal


 

The SA Foundation is keeping close watch during this catastrophic time in Nepal. Communications are unreliable, with all of Kathmandu (KTM) in crisis. However we have made contact and are in touch with our courageous program staff team, who are on the ground and in touch with the women in our program. Through them we have learned that:
 

  • Our Phase I house is cracked and can no longer be used and the women in Phase I are in various emergency shelters.
  • Our Phase II participants were given the choice to remain in KTM or to go to their villages to check on their families. They have gone but will return to KTM with our help.
 
We are very concerned about the toll that these unstable conditions may have on our young women in recovery, and have taken immediate action. 
 
In the absence of response from our present partner organization’s board of directors with whom we have been working, The SA Foundation has sent $ 15,000.00 to a new NGO partner organization in KTM and charged them with the responsibility of coordinating support, as needed, for all participants during this critical first month. On-going communications with that group help us remain responsive as issues develop.
  • The funds will be used to reach out to all Phase I & Phase II participants and ensure that their needs are met
  • Once Phase I and Phase II participants are taken care of, the team will continue to search for the Followcare participants and we will do what it takes to stabilize them once again.

Over the next few weeks, we will keep abreast of what else needs to be done and funds will be sent accordingly. The team in place will be given additional responsibilities as needed. We thank you for your support during these difficult times. Stay connected for further reports as we deal with this situation. We will keep you posted.
 

Amidst this mass crisis The SA Foundation sees the very real faces of our struggling participants and staff.

Please pray for:

- Phase I participants:
Munni G., Rita B.K, Sarmila P., Manju S., Manisha N., Radihika C., Laxmi G.

- Phase II participants:
Gyani R.M., Parwati G.C., Laxmi B.K., Nirmala G., Nama G., Parwati K., Radha G.C.

- Followcare participants:
Rabika T., Khagisara S., Anju S., Manju G., Kopila B., Dilmaya P., Kamala T., Sonu B.K., Asmita L., Sakuntali G., Juna N., Jyoti G.C., Kripa S., Sushila T., Nikita K., Sarita T., Geeta T., Sunita J., Sanju K., Migma T., Garima S. and Goma P.
 
Our staff too need your prayers, please pray for:


- Shrijana, the Program facilitator for Phase I participants; she has lost her home

- Maya the front-line live-in servant, Nanda the office helper, Saraswati G.C. the HC assistant Manager and sample maker, Anju K.C. the second sample makers and Pinky K. the HC supervisor for Phase I participants, Roshana S. the overall Program co-ordinator and Reema M. the HC Manager
 
Our dear friend and contact is taking a major role during this time of recovery. Please pray for him, his wife and children.

Due to the extreme damage to the city of Kathmandu, running water is only available in one location. Currently our staff must walk a distance to wait in line for hours to receive only a little drinking water. Please pray for their vitality and safety as they make these necessary excursions. Pray also that they may be able to construct a more efficient means to obtain clean water for our participants and the people still living outside their homes.
 
Thank-you for your support.
 
May God bless the Nepali people in their recovery from such catastrophic event and may God also bless all of you who do care about them.
We have two very special financial needs for our participants in Nepal:

1) One young woman has been severely traumatized by the earthquake and her sexual exploitation. She has been admitted to the hospital and given two caregivers in lieu of family support. She requires funds to pay for the hospital and her caregivers. We are committed to helping this young woman make it through these dark times.

2) Another participant has returned to her village to visit her ailing mother. She has no resources or funds to return to the program and she requires urgent financial aid in order to continue receiving healing for the trauma she has endured.

If you would like to make a donation for our participants in Nepal, please click here.
Recently we created a Prayer Blog for our supporters to connect with us in a tangible way.

Our prayer blog is a way for us to share prayer requests from our programs all over the globe. There you will see special, personal requests as well as short reflections from program leaders about what it’s like to work in recovery in every country. We know that you are praying with us and we believe that it is an extremely important part of our work.
Because our prayer requests include sensitive and confidential information, you will be brought to a log-in page in order to view the blog. If you already have a Wordpress account, you may log-in with those credentials at this time.

If you do not, you can sign up for a simple viewing account here:
Sign-Up To View Our Blog
Once you have logged in, you’ll have access to the blog. First you will see our welcome page which will direct you to our prayer requests.
 
If you prefer to be notified via email when a new post occurs, please scroll to the bottom of the welcome page where it says “Follow Blog Via Email” and click “Follow” to enter your email address. This way, every time a new prayer request is added, you will be notified immediately.
Read our Prayer Blog

Europe

Travel Updates

Recently Dominique, Steve and Carla traveled to Europe to help establish new programs and train staff. They spent an amazing three weeks in Germany and Greece, visiting program leaders and assessing the needs of the leaders in those areas. It was a refreshing opportunity to meet like-minded people who are called and devoted to empowering women who are escaping sex trafficking and exploitation.

Europe is a unique experience: wandering streets lined with beautiful historic buildings, juxtaposed with dimly-lit brothels brings mixed feelings and a renewed sense of purpose for those of us devoted to inspiring change.

Stay tuned for updates on new programs in Berlin, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Germany and Athens, Greece!
Athens, Greece
Here at SA Foundation we are eagerly setting up new programs in Europe. Every country has its own sets of challenges and that is why we require locals to build a firm foundation for our programs. Here's the scoop on Athens, Greece:

For 10 years a local housewife and mother participated in a brothel visiting mission, meeting with young girls who were tricked and sold into prostitution. The mission’s primary goal was to preach the gospel to these young women but this woman’s heart was involved and she could not bear to leave them in their circumstances. She began to help the women on her own, the best she could with what she had to offer. Being a mother herself, she understood that these were somebody’s daughters and she felt called to provide more to them. She began searching for a program to implement in her country, made several visits to the United States to visit others who were working with this population, but could not find anyone who could help her duplicate an effective program. Through a mutual friend of the SA Foundation, she learned about what we do internationally and a relationship began to form.

Today a team of eager, dedicated, like-minded leaders has formed and are going through the SA Foundation’s development process and will be coming to Canada for training in July 2015. The SA Foundation’s Board has added Athens as a franchise location to their 5-year plan and it is our shared goal that the first house and day program will be up and running by December 1, 2015.

We need your help! Due to the economic crisis in Greece, fundraising in this country will be impossible. We are calling our supporters together as we desire to see the young women trafficked into this country be provided with an avenue of escape and healing.
 

Donate Now
Germany

While Germany has legalized prostitution, there are more women than ever who are looking for an escape from this exploitative industry. We are assisting with setting up 3 new programs in the country: Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Berlin.

Stuttgart:
In 2014 a group of concerned citizens in Stuttgart began doing outreach to the women in these brothels. What they found was astounding: A large majority were not there of their own free will, but had been trafficked from Eastern European countries where poverty, corruption and a lack of opportunities drive young women to agree to risky employment opportunities. What they also found was there were very few exit services to help these women get out of the brothels and rebuild their lives. They embarked on a world-wide search to find an organization that could provide the programs and training they would need to start such services and they were referred to the SA Foundation. The key leader of the organization was astonished at the design and depth of the processes of development, training and support that the SA Foundation provides and knew that this was the model she had been searching for.

Over the course of 6 months a relationship and a development plan was formed. This team is dedicated to the process of opening an SA program in Stuttgart and they are diligently working through the training and courses needed to become equipped to help this population re-integrate back into society. The Stuttgart team will be offered a partnership agreement with the SA Foundation.

Karlsruhe:
The SA Foundation provided a team from Karlsruhe with a 10-day intensive training session and the curriculum they will need to begin offering rehabilitation services to survivors of human trafficking in their city. An ongoing partnership agreement will be offered to this team to provide support and additional training as needed.

For more information about their programs and services, please visit their website at: thejusticeproject.net

Berlin:
In March 2015, the SA Foundation met with local leaders in Berlin and quickly discerned their passion and commitment to providing exit services to trafficked women in their city.

Throughout the fall, the Foundation will be providing an onsite leadership assessment to this team and once completed they will be coming to Vancouver for program and operational training. An ongoing partnership agreement will be offered to this team to provide support and additional training as needed.

For more information about their organization, please visit www.pinkdoorberlin.org

Vancouver Program

Our Cuddle 'N Care Babysitting service recently got a makeover! Thanks to generous donations we were able to purchase new furniture, toys, books and games for our participants' children. We offer the babysitting service to the women in our Vancouver day program as they work on their recovery from sexual exploitation. The babysitting service is just down the hall from the classroom, which encourages bonding between mother and child and helps foster heatlhy parenting skills.
We have recently added a new level of Advanced Programming to our Vancouver location! Once participants have completed the requirements of our Recovery Day Program, they are then welcomed into Advanced Program which is an extended 18 month program that supplies housing/daycare grants, personalized goal planning and support as they re-enter society and the workforce.
The purpose of Advanced Programming is as follows:
  • To assist participants to find safe and secure affordable long-term housing
  • To provide continued support to participants to ensure they maintain a healthy lifestyle as they continue to raise their children on their own
  • To provide support to participants as they strive to maintain their employment
  • To provide support to participants as they get promoted in their working environments with the aim and objective to earn enough money to become financially self-supporting
  • To continue to provide servant leadership tools for participants to become qualified sponsors to new participants that are at the beginning stages of their recovery

Right on the cusp of summer, we're holding our annual I Stop Traffick Runs in Calgary and Vancouver! Come on out to get some exercise, fresh air, and raise funds for the rebuilding of our Nepal project!

On Saturday May 23, 2015 join runners and walkers of all ages and abilities on a scenic 5km Run/Walk or a 1 km Kids Run through Stanley Park in Vancouver & Sandy Beach Park in Calgary.

This family fun run is a tangible way to join in the fight against human trafficking & sexual exploitation.

In light of the recent earthquake tragedy in Nepal , our event organizers have decided to allocate all proceeds of the I Stop Traffick Run/Walk towards our Nepal Project.  All monies raised from the charity run/walk will be applied to help support our project in Nepal. 

Register Now

Global Wonders

Check out our Global Wonders Photoshoot Video to learn more about what we do!

Design Night 2015!

Great news - We're hosting our first design night of the year on June 4th, 2015 6:30 - 9:30pm. This is your chance to let your jewelry designing skills shine! If you're in Vancouver, come on out to our design studio, bring some friends, and have some fun. Your designs may be featured in upcoming Global Wonders' Collections.

All jewelry supplies & stones will be provided and no jewelry making experience is required.  If you would like a quick lesson or some tips on basic jewelry making, our in-house designer would be happy to give you a quick lesson before the start of our session.  If you also have pieces that you have made or perhaps bring inspiration to you, we invite you to bring these in to help with your design process.

If your design is chosen, you will receive design credit on our Global Wonders online store & brochures.

Light refreshments, wine & cheese, will also be provided to help keep those creative juices flowing!

Please RSVP to Naphtali or on Facebook and we hope to see you at our Jewelry Design Night!

Get Involved!

There are so many ways to get involved with the SA Foundation! Here are just a few:

  1. Take the Communicar Seminar! This educational online course will provide you with a deeper understanding of how   young girls become enslaved in the sex trade, and will educate you about the realities of exploitation and recovery.  Click here to learn more!
  2. Become a Monthly Donor! Many have joined the Monthly Donor Program as a way to equip the SA Foundation to consistently provide the care and services needed by participants to exit the sex trade and build a new life for themselves and their children! It’s amazing what $25/month  or more can do!  Click here to sign up today!
  3. Support Our Programs! Every month we need financial support for our Vancouver Housing Program of $4,000 and for the Day Program of $5,000. If there’s anything you can contribute, it would be greatly appreciated! Click here to give a gift!
  4. Give a Tax-Deductible Gift to our General Fund! Your support is greatly appreciated! Every dollar translates into lives being saved!  Click here to give a gift!
  5. Organize a Fundraising Event! Supporters have put together fun runs, bowlathons, luncheons, dinner   events and the list goes on! Become an ACT team leader in your community! Contact us to get started.
  6. Shop Global Wonders! Global Wonders Jewelry is handmade by women in the SA Foundation's Nepal Program. The production and distribution of our jewelry provides dignity and marketable skills for women who have escaped human trafficking. 100% of net proceeds is re-invested into our recovery programs. Shop Now!
We thank you all so much for your support, prayers and time. Be sure to keep in touch via our social media links below, or feel free to contact us at info@safoundation.com
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