Sun married a rich Belgian man 20 years ago who she had met in her home country. When she arrived in Belgium, her husband forced her to work in several Thai massage parlours to earn money for him. He didn't have the well paid job he claimed to have when they were in Thailand.
When they divorced, Sum, not knowing another job, saw herself obliged to keep working in a Thai massage parlour. She could work herself up to Thai madam so she didn't have to take clients herself if she had enough girls working for her. Som had several severe depressions and is still struggling to find meaning and rest in her life. One time she nearly died from a mysterious liver disease. Lying in the hospital, she felt something was seriously wrong. She was constantly thinking about her son who was barely 8 years old and who needed her care. Sum wished that she could live until her son would be 18. After a couple of days Som left the hospital, leaving the doctors puzzled about her healing.
We started visiting her 3 years ago, always full of suspicious about what we wanted, but we kept going back, encouraging her to pursue her dream of opening her own salon with traditional massage.
In December she sold the parlour and last Saturday we could attend the opening of her new business in traditional massage in Kortenberg! We are so happy for Sum and will keep visiting her! We keep praying that Sum will find true rest with God.

* Name has been changed
*Story taken from the Oasis Belgium Blog

Mumbai -

A 'Stop the Traffik' rally was held in the suburbs of Mumbai at Nalasopara. The rally stretched from Nallasopara Station to Santosh Bhavan on India's 63rd Republic Day event. 3500 people were witnesses to the street plays and 3 local newspapers: Pudhari (Marathi newspaper), Jagalyaa (Marathi newspaper) and Maharashtra Buland Times carried reports on the event. 100 volunteers from 7 churches also participated in the event. There were three groups which enacted 15 street plays along the route and around 8000 Stop the Traffik information sheets were distributed.

Prior to the rally the team conducted a two-day training program for 60youth volunteers from 7 different churches and formed three ACT groups- 'Yuva', 'Freedom' and 'Unity'. Through the rally people were made aware of human trafficking. The programme was conducted with permission from the Police and local authorities.

Chennai -

New initiatives in Chennai are focusing on child beggary, transgender community and youth in resettlement areas. Oasis will be working in partnership with Ministry of Social Defense, the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board and Transgender Rights Association.

A staff outing was organized on the 20th and 21st where staff reflected on the past few months and also had a refreshing time, resting.

Alex Gonzalez has been volunteering with Oasis over the past month, helping with documentation and raising supporters for Oasis.

Cameo and Aircel customer care, 2 companies where Blue Edge graduates were placed gave positive feedback about their performance and requested more of the same caliber.The 2nd division league matches begin on the 9th February. The boys are quite under pressure as some of them will appear for exams too. The Parents-Teachers Association at the BV Colony Government School was held and the SSA Co-ordinator oriented them on their roles and responsibilities. The parents have become proactive and conducted the Republic Day celebrations in the school.

Join in the Aruna 5K Run for Their Freedom. The proceeds of the race go to help fund the Aruna Project, whose primary purpose is to aid in the rescue and rehabilitation of those enslaved.

Located in one of the largest red light districts in all of Asia—a two square mile area that holds over 25,000 captive for Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE), the staff of the project are well acquainted with the needs of the women and children. From sexual education to skill and trade development, from personal mentorship to a caring hand, the staff seek to establish ongoing relationships with those enslaved and work hard in the process of their “rescue” from the brothels.

For the sake of those in such dire need, join in a race or consider hosting your own. Together we can make a difference. Together we can bring hope to the hopeless. Together we can help to bring an end to the sex slave trade in this place—one life at a time

For more info on how you can be part of fighting human trafficking and partnering with Aruna, please visit: http://aruna5k.com/

A Day in My Life Here.
It was suggested to me during one of my Skype calls with my parents that I give a brief run-through of what an ordinary day here looks like. I thought this was a rather good idea so I decided to do just that. What follows is a timeline of my Monday’s here. (Along with Wednesday, Monday is my busiest day)
I must say though, it does not feel like a month since I sent out the last newsletter. I’m settled in now and I really feel like I live here. Before I go on, I just want to thank you for all of your prayers and support. It has definitely helped me to know that there are people praying for me while I am here. Thank you.

Rita is a four-year-old girl who was recently rescued from a brothel in Mumbai. The owner of the brothel was planning to sell her into prostitution.

The South Africa team conducts a training session on trafficking with commercial sex workers and discovers that most of the girls had already encountered trafficking themselves.

The Oasis Belgium team visited a trafficking victim in a massage parlor. They also made progress in a meeting with local authorities.

This month, Oasis teamed up with Winrock International, a non-profit doing good all over the world, to build up staff capacity and share anti-trafficking education materials in Bangladesh. Winrock organized a two-day workshop on Human Trafficking and Legal Framework which was held at Hotel Rigs Inn in Dhaka.

Dave and Josh tell us how gardening and football are part of Oasis Uganda's outreach efforts.

Rita is a four year old girl who stays in a brothel at Mumbai. Rita did not receive any love from her parents, since she lost her mother at a young age and her father was in the jail. She stayed with the brothel owner who she regards as her grandmother. The reason Rita is being looked after by the brothel owner is to satisfy wrong motives, she intends to sell Rita into prostitution and earn a huge chunk on her, (selling minors into prostitution fetches 10 times more than that of a major).

Read about the innovative and varied ways Oasis is fighting human trafficking around the world by being involved with local communities.

This Oasis film highlights the need for us all to engage together in fighting human trafficking.
It also shows the action that we can be part of and partner with in helping eradicate human trafficking.
JOIN our 13 campaign and help make a difference in individual lives and in local and global communities.

From Brussels comes some of the world’s finest chocolate. Most people could never imagine that something so sweet could hold a truth so awful. The cocoa trade has long been plagued with slavery and child labor, and abolitionists in Europe are drawing a line and saying, “No more”. Read about how British and Belgian students advocated for change....

As conditions worsen in the rural regions of Bangladesh, the poorest of the poor have begun making the trek to Dhaka City in search of work. Day by day their numbers increase and currently there are well over 25 million living on only 2,761 acres of land. These areas can only be described as slums. There are over 4,300 in the region, and life within is a constant struggle for survival. The situation is particularly dire for the young girls who have immigrated with their families. They have been forced to quit school and, out of necessity, take on low wage jobs in garment factories. Here, they often find themselves victim to physical, mental and sexual abuse. These are the conditions of their day to day life in Dhaka City.

Oasis India is impacting the cities of Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. The following are some comments for your thoughts...
See also http://www.facebook.com/oasisindia

Kyrgyzstan has been a busy place for Oasis these past few months. Fortunately Andy, Sophia and family will be leaving in early august to join the activities. Read more...

Welcome to extracts from the second edition of our newsletter in 2011. In this edition, we bring you updates of what has been happening around us and the community for the past three months, We hope you enjoy reading it. Have fun!

Thousands of modern slaves live in plain sight in the U.S. without ever being noticed. Paul Lange describes how it happens and the red flags we can look for.