How Ruhamah Began
Girls who were part of the aftercare program in its initial stages
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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