It's been almost a year since I resigns from Ruhamah Designs. I look at my two precious little girls and know that this time now given to them is more than worth the loss of my job. Every day now is so full of household work, cries and little voices that I barely find time to reflect. But I do want to take this rare quiet moment to reflect and remember what and why Ruhamah Designs.

In January 2009 when I joined my fiance Evan in his work in India, I was very hopeful to find my place to come alongside him in the fray. But unlike his law degree, I had studied business, particularly in small business development, and that just didn't fit into the legal, aftercare or investigation departments of Freedom Firm. So for a year I looked elsewhere for a job. But I still wished there was something I could do there. Freedom Firm's aftercare home had a jewelry project originally started for art therapy. It was starting to gain a bit of interest from buyers, and I remember once encouraging Mala how this could grow into so much more, reach so many girls, if it were run as a business.

At the beginning of 2010, I was stuck in the US due to a visa issue. Evan needed to return to India and so left me to wait out the remaining 6 weeks until I could also return. Needless to say, I was discouraged and frustrated, but I tried to use the time as best I could in searching for a job in Pune. Until that point, nothing had opened up. Then about 3 days before my return flight, I got not just one, but three full time job offers! One was from Mala. The jewelry program was growing and needed to spin out into a for-profit entity. Would I come on to help develop it into a business? There was nothing I wanted more. It was precisely for opportunities like this that I had studied business in the first place! And what's more, I would finally be able to work for the same goal with my husband, to see the rescue and restoration of exploited women.

Mala and I met face to face at Freedom Firm's annual retreat in February. Walking along a dusty road surrounded by tea fields, we began to hash out what Ruhamah would become . This was the first of many conversations like this as we envisioned what Ruhamah needed to be and then how we could get this machine moving. We came together in a perfect blend, both of us recognizing the strengths and abilities of the other. We were so different that we really could not even encroach on the other's area!

So many times throughout my time with Ruhamah and particularly in the beginning, I felt like I was building a house of cards that could crash down at any point. But I was encouraged and reminded that unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it. So I really would just throw Ruhamah over to God and say, "God unless you make this stand it will fall. Help us!" And God did make it stand, and not only stand but grow! Amazingly, the month of March always seemed to mark something significant for Ruhamah. March 2010 I joined Ruhamah and we began the process of bringing a non-profit project into a business. March 2011 Ruhamah Designs officially launched as a private limited company. March 2013 we started the first new workshop outside of Ooty in Pune, a significant step toward our vision of offering employment to many girls in many localities. March 2013 we launched our second workshop outside of Ooty in Kolkata, doubling our employment head count. March 2014 I resigned and handed my work into the capable hands of Catherine Raja, Ruhamah's new CEO.

"If you're wrestling with some sort of decision reflect for a moment and ask yourself, 'Am I being brave, or am I being safe? In the end, it depends on whether we think God can be trusted."
                                                                                   - Gary Haugen

Greg and I don't often get the chance to travel together for work. I usually man the home front when he travels to different Freedom Firm offices. I make sure the kids get to school, feed the horses, and support the office in Ooty. When I take my rare flights to Kolkata to the work shop there, or other Ruhamah sites, Greg and I swap responsibilities and he keeps the home fires burning.

This January we decided to travel together. Our oldest, Kavita, is in the US now, going to college. Rachael, at eighteen, is perfectly capable of supporting Abbi (fifteen), and Morgan (fourteen). In fact, this January, Morgan had plans of his own, and my parents invited him to travel with a group of Americans across India to multiple projects they partner with. (www.alongsideasia.org)

And so, with a fairly light heart, we traveled down the Nilgiri mountains eight hours to Bangalore and then on to Pune, Allahabad, and Kolkata before returning to Ooty ten days later. We left Rachael and Abbi to endless days of studying for mock exams (thank you England), long picnic rides on the horses, and final art projects (Rachael). As long as  bison didn't gore a horse, or knock down an electric fence that would then wrap around a horse's leg, things would be fine. (Yes, these things have actually happened to us.)

OK so we said a prayer or two as we left.

Evan and his wife Leah, the long standing faithful director of our Freedom Firm Pune team, have a growing family, a daughter 2 years old and another just 6 months old. Evan manages a widely flung team of investigators and legal professional and social workers. They are on the front lines of the work day and night and he juggles the ever changing scenes of trafficking, raids, police interaction, hospital verification, government homes and followup with the air of a seasoned and experienced professional.

With our line of work, staff are in a somewhat dangerous, high risk environment (both our men and young social work women) and recruitment and staff longevity are a revolving door. Three new members of staff were starting their first day when we arrived. We pray they stay. Not many want to take the risk for long. Marriage and kids are often game changers too. The demands of the job don't work well for a solid, predictable home life. It takes a toll on wife and kids. Work where passion is a prerequisite does have its ramifications.

With all the challenges, Evan and Leah have shown remarkable resilience. In spite of frequent and serious disappointments inevitable in this job, they have never lost heart or become callous through disillusionment - their spirits have remained soft and pliant.

After an amazing Mexican meal in their house (Leah, when did you have time with the two babies?) we hear their questions about life, work, calling and family. I look backwards. If they had not stood with us in key times, would we be here today? I don't think so. There are times when it is only the faithfulness of true friends that can tip the balance of fighting the fight or running for cover. We are more than co-workers and partners. We are friends.

Leah was my business partner and the driving force four years ago when we launched Ruhamah. With her masters in business, she was the nuts and bolts of the enterprise, and I was the vision and the creativity. After a year, she launched a workshop in Pune. Many of the girls who had worked in Ooty had gone through our aftercare program, "graduated," and moved on to the workshop in Pune. This was the "next step in our rehabilitation plan. Girls enjoyed more freedom, lived in independent working women's hostels traveled to and left work on public transportation, managed their own bank accounts and were free to make their way in new relationships, for good or for ill.

Aftercare wasn't 24/7 anymore for Freedom Firm staff. It began and ended for Ruhamah employees at the Ruhamah door. Social workers still helped with housing, conflict resolution, counselling, medical navigation and financial advice. But Ruhamah was intrinsically an employment platform, where girls could earn a good wage and move on with their lives. (Indeed, today, many of the girls who joined Pune Ruhamah are now married and have children. They have moved on with their lives and are not stuck in the travesty of their past.)

The girls we sent to Pune were in some ways more difficult than when they had first moved through aftercare in Ooty. Freedom Firm had assisted them for so long that they knew ho to work the system. Many had become master manipulators, seeking to gain more welfare than what was on offer. Their past became an excuse for defiance towards supervisors, lashing out in anger towards other employees and picking up dangerous and undesirable boyfriends. They had become comfortable and were beginning to stagnate in a state they wanted to prolong for as long as possible.

Prodding the girls on towards self-reliance and independence were Leah's massive challenges and hundreds of difficult decisions had to be made, managing that seasoned lot of rescued girls. For those of you who have teenagers, you know what I mean.

After four years and a couple of babies, Leah now has some well earned rest from the complexities and stresses of leading, discipling, and motivating the Pune Ruhamah employees.

I smile as I watcher her rush from warming up my coffee to changing a diaper with all the efficiency of her Ruhamah days. "I love this," she said. For a second my thoughts are still reflecting on our Ruhamah girls. But her eyes are shining with love as she looks at her little ones with all the pride and joy of motherhood, and I know she is where she belongs for now, nurturing her beautiful babies in this world where she knows all too well the dangers of slavery.

Evan and Leah's courage and bravery in the face of this old and ancient evil has already made the world a better place. A place where their own daughters will also learn to fight the good fight. Hats off to Gary Haugan, our leader in our International Justice Mission days, who writes, "My vulnerabilities as a parent are such that sometimes I simply want my kids to escape suffering. But if I keep them completely safe, they will never have a chance to be truly good or brave. Is that what I want?" 

This is a blog written by Heidi, a recent Avalanche Camp participant.

Tuesday morning, as I unpacked my camping backpack from my trip to India, I caught a whiff of smoke and curry, the comforting aroma hat had worked its way into my fleece. High in the Nilgiri mountain range in Tamil Nadu, southern India, I had just spent a week with young women who had been rescued from the prolific sex trade. I heard stories of betrayal by relatives, stories of sexual abuse and rejection by parents - stories told through tears of sorrow but also tears of relief, knowing the hearers listened with open hearts and were prepared to share the burden of their life story.

While the realities of the tragedies in these women's lives were presented to me every day, hope is a word that comes to mind. After spending time in the wilderness chatting over curry, sleeping in tents in the cool mountain air, hiking through the eucalyptus forests and swimming in the pristine waters of the mountain lakes, these young women have been presented with hope. They have been physically rescued. Now their hearts are in the process of being emotionally rescued and spiritually restored. After this week, each one of them heard there is a hope and a future. 

Many of these women cannot return to their homes and resume a "normal" routine. In a culture that idolizes community, they cannot simply reintegrate into village life. Their past is known. Their family is shamed. They are dependent on organizations and groups hat become their new community, giving them counselling, training, and unconditional love as they learn to live beyond the scars. One way these organizations assist women to become independent is by teaching them a trade and then providing access to customers who are willing to purchase their wares, not ostracize them because of their history (which could happen in their local community). 

As I passed around my phone so everyone could catch a glimpse of next year's colors, the team spontaneously cheered. Next year's colors? "Many feel compelled to be connected around the clock because we are afraid we'll miss something important. There is a growing movement to step out and create 'quiet zones' to disconnect from technology and unwind, giving ourselves time to stop and be still. Color choices follow the same minimalistic, 'en plein air' theme, taking a cue from nature rather than being reinvented or mechanically manipulated. Soft, cool hues blend with subtle warm tones to create a soothing escape from teh everyday hustle and bustle." (Leatrice Eiseman, Pantone Color Institute)

There is a corporate chuckle as I read the psychology behind the color choices, and our Ruhamah staff exhale a sense of shared resonance. While the world at large is needing quiet white space from the flurry and drive, temptations and demands of technology, the color choices also signal a much needed direction to all of us in Ruhamah Designs. We acknowledge our need of the physical reminder of color, to retreat from time to time from the agony and pathos of our girls, to breathe deeply and re-calibrate. 

Ruhamah Designs isn't just a business. It's so much more. Our employees aren't the usual segment of the population with the average set of hang-ups and issues that we all face. Our girls exhibit brokenness that defies mending, insecurities that play like shadows on their faces at work, fears that paralyze as they strive to meet quotas, disproportionate rage that bubbles to the surface during ordinary interactions with supervisors and co-workers, and unchecked tears that course down their cheeks as they hammer out earrings. They each have personal stories that we can only imagine; each carry pain we can never fully understand.

In Ruhamah, we see a range of emotions that mirror our own, but are a thousand times stronger, a thousand times more intense. Sometimes the play of emotion is ferocious, sometimes debilitating and always it is exhausting, for the girl, and for those around her.

So, here we all were, stepping back from the dramas at our workshops, and making time in our hectic schedules for rest at a Catholic retreat center.

​We needed to share the stories of the girls we serve, process the pain of the lives we encounter every day, and brainstorm solutions to the complex issues we face a the work place. We needed to share our moments of baffling hopelessness in the face of the girl's anguish, the gifts of counsel, unheeded, the warnings of destructive behavior, sadly ignored, the patterns of self-destruction that we saw, but could not stop.

We needed to step back and problem solve together, not isolated, independent bodies spread apart by thousands of miles, but together, as one united group of people who pray, long for and hope for one great dream, for our girl's wholeness.

We needed to breathe deeply and remember afresh how to care for ourselves, our bodies, minds, and souls.

So, we gave ourselves time to connect with each other and our Creator. We gave ourselves the chance to have fun, to shop in the wonderful city of Bangalore. We purchased saris and fancy salwars, block printed fabric and special sweets to take back home. We dreamed about the future of Ruhamah over cups of really good coffee.

It was a short week together, but long enough to reaffirm that our strength comes from our Creator and Sustainer and to revel and refuel in His love. We returned from the press of this world for a short while, both fr ourselves and for the girls we sere, so that we  

Kamna joined Freedom Fir's aftercare program at Ooty in its initial stages. Kamna, like all our artisans, was rescued from the brutal industry of sex trafficking and then chose to be a part of Freedom Firm’s growing aftercare program. The aftercare program was launched by Greg and Mala Malstead in 2006, to reach out to rescued girls who were seeking a safe place to learn and grow.

Ruhamah Designs as it is known today first began in the Freedom Firm aftercare home where they learnt vital life skills.  It was a haven where their deepest emotions could be expressed without inhibition. For Kamna and other girls, Roja, the aftercare home, turned out to be a place where they began to walk the road to recovery. Besides being counseled and cared for the girls were also given an opportunity to be educated and learn jewelry making as an activity in the afternoons.​

The first Ruhamah Workshop began as a jewelry making activity in the serene hills of Ooty, in Tamil Nadu. Secluded from the hustle and bustle of city congestion, characterizing most Indian cities, the town was an ideal location for the girls to overcome fears of their past and to bond with others who had experienced similar trauma. In an informal setting where they experienced freedom, the girls grew and Ruhamah Designs developed to what it is today.

Many more girls were being rescued as a result of Freedom Firm’s rescue operations in Maharashtra and consequently girls began to join the aftercare program at Ooty. We also began to receive referral cases from remand homes where girls were housed after their rescue. This created the need for aftercare programs at strategic spots in India to be able to reach out to girls rescued from sex-trafficking.

Identifying this need, a workshop was established in Pune, Maharashtra in 2012 where most of Freedom Firm’s rescue operations took place. This gave girls a chance to remain close to their home state.
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​We started the Ruhamah workshop at Kolkata in 2013 to stem the tide of re-traffiking in the area. Many rescued girls were unable to find work because of the region's extreme economic  depression.  Opening a Ruhamah Designs workshop gave girls a viable option for employment.
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​In 2014, we launched a workshop, the first of its kind, within a governmental home in Nagpur. We discovered that a majority of the girls were children and faced the risk of being re-trafficked once they were released. For the workshop to be within this remand home meant that girls were provided with an opportunity to be trained in jewelry making and then choose to join one of our three workshops once they were released.

Currently, 33 artisans work and do life in our four different workshops. Workshop managers and social workers interact, encourage and help the girls engage in a life different from the one they experienced at the brothels. Uneducated, poor and robbed of their freedom, the girls transform into independent artisans in their own right.
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Kamna is now one of our expert artisans at the Ooty workshop. She has seen the ebbs and flows Ruhamah has come through in the past years and she too is a transformed person today.  ​​