Our daughters are not for sale. They are all our daughters.
Building on the Vision
Update from Ramesh Sapkota

As we enter the second half of 2019, I am excited and more hopeful than ever. In recent months, we have made great strides in impacting the lives of more daughters and their communities!  We were able to provide increased support for our rescue operations and our emergency shelters; offer tuition support to daughters at risk; support the opening of local businesses for our daughters and stimulate development for projects in their communities. 

During Q2 we were able to implement a development curriculum for the second phase of our Social Leadership School. This enables our daughters to discuss and learn more complex topics and agendas allowing them to develop advanced skills beyond the first phase of the program. 

With the financial support of our partners, we have established a transit home in Delhi, India (KIN India) that will serve as an immediate shelter for our daughters that have been rescued internationally. This has broadened our reach and has been tremendously beneficial to our rescue missions. 

We are now operating 11 border stations and have welcomed 3 additional daughters as border surveillance counselors. We are thrilled that nearly 20% of our staff are daughters that have gone through our program and are now dedicated to working with Our Daughters International to change lives and communities. 

The vision of starting our second safe home in Chitwan has finally become a reality! The planning phase of the construction process has begun, and we hope to break ground yet this year. With this, we will increase the capacity of our facilities to 100 daughters at any given time.

I extend my gratitude to everyone who has joined us in this mission. I am grateful for your prayers and financial resources. With great humility and unwavering commitment, we are determined to make an even bigger impact — TOGETHER. 

Ramesh Sapkota
President and Founder
Our Daughters International 
Women's Empowerment
Two new Women’s Empowerment Groups have been formed in Biratnagar, which is in the far East section of Nepal. Women’s Empowerment Groups are formed to encourage community women to fight against human trafficking and gender-based violence.  There are 28 women enrolled in each group.  These groups also educate their communities on additional topics such as safe travel and child marriage. Since 2009, our partner in Nepal has established over 900 Women’s Empowerment Groups with over 27,000 members.
Micro-businesses lead to self-sufficiency
The local farmers market in Chitwan, Nepal has provided opportunities for our daughters to become self-sufficient which helps them overcome the temptation of the traffickers. Two daughters sell Pani-Puri (Nepali street food) and Lassi (yogurt milkshake) that have won the hearts of those attending the farmers market. The daughters have also been able to showcase their talent in sewing and sell to the local community in a doll-cushion and clothing stall at the market.
Journey from Victim to Leader - Crossing the Border
In our last newsletter, we shared the first step of our daughters journey and how poverty and a patriarchal society lead to village girls being vulnerable to traffickers. Since Nepal is a “source country” for trafficked girls, the next step for the trafficker is to work in creating an elaborate scheme of transporting the girls out of the country to be sold around the world. Unfortunately, this is easy due to the open border that exists between Nepal and India. This open border enables traffickers to transport Nepalese women and girls to India with little to no intervention.

Whether it is the promise of a well-paying job abroad or of a happy marriage, the trafficker formulates a story with the daughter during their journey to the border station. Most often, they abuse, drug and rape the girl before reaching the border station in order to create fear in them. The traffickers also create fear of the border police and counselors among the daughters by telling them if they find fault in their story, they might not be able to reach the destination where their dreams finally begin. In our next newsletter, these victims will become survivors.
Update from the Field
New India Transit Home Opening
Our partner in India has identified the location of their first Transit Home in Dehli. Trafficking victims that make it into India are held in hotels and groomed before being sent abroad to the Middle East, Europe, and beyond. Our partner works closely with law enforcement, governmental services, and embassies to rescue trafficking victims being held captive and to repatriate them. The new Transit Home, with a capacity of 15-20 girls, will allow counseling and trauma care to begin immediately while the 7-10-day process of repatriation is completed. In 2018, over 100 girls were rescued from hotels in Delhi and 37 have been rescued thus far this year.
"Today I am Hopeful!"
Nisha was just 14 when her sister invited her to visit her in a big city where she worked. Excited, Nisha packed her bags without delay. Upon arriving at her sister’s apartment, Nisha met and became friends with one of her sister’s friends. They enjoyed going out for lunch & shopping together.

One day, this friend and others decided to go watch a movie in a big theatre and invited Nisha. The drive was long. When they arrived, the place looked nothing like a movie theatre. Nisha had been trafficked to a brothel in Delhi – the next two years of her life were a living hell. She was abused, tortured and raped by multiple men.

After two years, Nisha escaped from the brothel and started her journey towards home. When she reached the border, Our Daughters partner in Nepal rescued her. She was welcomed to our partner’s Safe Home where she went through a year of counseling. The journey of recovery for Nisha was tough, but her determination was stronger than ever.

Today, Nisha’s works as an Assistant Education Coordinator for ODI’s Nepal partner. She travels to each school district raising awareness about trafficking. Although her dreams were snatched away from her at 14, she shares her story to empower her sisters to stay in school and to pursue their education. Nisha, now 21, is a role model to so many! She shares her story in schools and government events and is touching the lives of so many. Her journey of hope and restoration is beautiful and we are so proud of the woman she has become.

Nisha shares, “I used to be hopeless. I was treated like an animal. I had no self-esteem. I was angry with the world for what had happened to me. But today I’m hopeful; I see my future in the kids I counsel. Helping them and encouraging them has been my biggest accomplishment!” 
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