A little update

The last month has been overfull with amazing things. We are overwhelmed with the ways that we are finding community, the ways God is using us to love, serve and offer freedom to the women of Kolkata¡¦s red light districts, and the ways that we are just plain old having fun! I love being here. I am know i am in the right plave doing the right thing. This is going to be a little long but please read on because it is just soooooo good!

The first good and amazing thing is that we will are starting, I guess I should say finally starting Sari Bari. For those of you who do not know, Sari Bari will be a employment opportunity that will offer the women and girls freedom.

Sari Bari exists to provide women caught in the sex trade in the red light areas of Kolkata, India freedom by providing alternative employment and income. Sari Bari Imports (USA) markets and distributes the handmade textiles of Sari Bari India in the minority world while educating and empowering consumers to join in the pursuit of justice and redemption on their behalf.
The name "Sari Bari" comes from two symbols: a sari is the traditional clothing worn by Indian women. In India, saris represent the essence of womanhood. The word "bari" in Bengali means "house or home". Our hope is for Sari Bari to be a safe home where women, who have been exploited in the sex trade, can have their dignity as women restored. By providing a way out of selling their bodies, we believe that these women will have the opportunity to find healing and freedom and to experience the Jesus in a tangible way.

The women will be paid a “fair” wage that will sustain them and their families. Eventually, we hope to be a “fair trade” organization but until we will be seeking to follow fair trade pratices.
Sari Bari has been in the dreams and visions of our community for some time now and the dream will become realized on February 20 when we start our first training. The women train three days a week or a month or two and then they will be hire full time. We will have our first interviews this coming Tuesday and hope to see 2-5 women make the choice for freedom. We will be starting in a different red light area partnering with another organization. We will share space with this organization and work with their girls but this is just the starting point we hope to see production units in all of the city’s red light areas…offering hope, dignity and freedom to the women so long hidden and held down without a way out.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you want to be involved by offering us some of your business expertise!! We have a USA distributor so we just trying to get all the details ironed out.
Second in the amazing catergory is that we are continuing to see girls come out of the trade and freedom and hope with our friends in another buisiness project. So far 9 women have left and 7 are still moving forward into deeper transformation. The most recent girl left yesterday and started her first day---we are so excited—check my wmf co worker kristin's blog for more on her story

www.myspace.com/kristinkeen

And the third and final amazing thing this last week is that we might have finally found an apartment—no only a place to live but a place that could meet all our needs and the needs of Sari Bari in Sonagacchi which is only delayed by not having a place for it as we have so many women interested. It is actually a 2 story building with 8 rooms and courtyard. It is very poor and run down—actually only has a water pump in the courtyard—not running water in the house (we can fix this  don’t worry). It actually is very similar to a brothel which strangly enough is exactly what we want…and the landlord will allow the women to come into the building. It is in poor area and we would be able to live with those who we are seeking to serve. The building has so much potential as a place for Sari Bari, a place for us to live incarnationally and be safe—but only a five minute walk from the gach, and it has the potential to be a half way house for some of the young girls coming out of the trade. Please pray, pray, pray for this and for us as we meet with the landlord this coming week on the 15th. We having been waiting and praying for something like this and this really seems to be the right place.

Oh and the last thing is that we are having a lot of fun…fun being with the girls, fun doing literacy training with a business that employs the girls, fun having an eighties party and then a swiss national party—yes these things do happen here check out the eighties party pics!! I mean the side pony tail is about the best we can do with what we have as far as costume goes with a little blue eye shadow !