Three Stories You Should Hear About
In Calcutta (or rather Kolkata as it's usually spelled nowadays) there are three young women from the US who have each done something extraordinary. I hope more people can hear about what they've done and gain inspiration from their stories. Let me start off by noting that Kolkata is not an easy place to live for most people used to life in the US or other Western countries. The reason for this is that the public services, air quality, general living conditions, and the culture are very different from what most of us in the western part of the world have grown accustomed to. In addition, and of particular relevance for these three stories, women in India continue to struggle to achieve full recognition of their legally-protected rights and equal status among certain segments of the male population.
Into this situation arrived Becky, Kelsea, and Sarah, three young American women in their twenties and half a world away from home in more ways than one. They came to Kolkata at different times over the last eight years to undertake volunteer activities ranging from shelters for victims of sex trafficking to Mother Theresa's well known mission for the poor of Kolkata. That these young women undertook these activities is praiseworthy enough, but the most remarkable part of their story was yet to come.
Each, independently of one another, started a business that employs survivors of sex trafficking. And they did it without the benefit of a business degree or any experience running a business or working in the business world. They each saw the great need for income-generating opportunities for the women who had escaped the sex trade and they were determined to do something about it. Becky launched the Destiny Center with her friend Smarita and they now employ ten women after training them to make beautiful handicrafts. After completing a Fullbright in Kolkata, Kelsea started Freeset Tees, which now employs sixteen survivors through the production of fair trade cotton t-shirts that are the softest quality t-shirts I've ever touched. And Sarah started Sari Bari, which employs about 50 survivors through the production of blankets, scarves, and bags made from recycled Saris.
I'm not doing their stories justice through such a brief post, but just consider for a second what an undertaking each of these has been. Anyone who has started a business can attest to the long hours and difficulties involved. When you add the challenges of doing that in a foreign country and a place like Kolkata and doing it to employ survivors of sex trafficking and the challenges that come with that, then you start to get a glimpse of how remarkable each of these women is and the work they're doing so far from home.
