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SRI: The perfect exemple of human trafficking

We have just received the story of Sri Dewi, a 15-year-old Indonesian girl who has just been rescued from a human trafficking network.

Before being trapped, Sri lived with his mother, stepfather and sister.

They live with difficulty from a small business and since the school takes place online, Sri likes very much to help his family to exploit this one.

In 2021, a friend contacted her to offer her a job in a café in the city of Surrabaya. As soon as she arrives, a trafficker involved in human trafficking seduces Sri by offering her a better paying job on the island of West Papua.

Shortly after arriving on the island, he is flown into the jungle by helicopter to work in a cafe near a mine. This is when things get tricky.

When Sri fails to meet the cafe owner’s sales targets, she suffers physical and verbal abuse.

She will manage to get in touch with her mother and thanks to a child protection worker, she manages to return home.

She is currently hospitalized because she suffers from appendicitis, a urinary tract infection and kidney stones. Due to an error on her health insurance, we may not be able to treat her.

Sri is the perfect example of the typical victim of human trafficking. In order to help her family, she was trapped by highly skilled predators.

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A word from the president and founder of Talitha Koumi

The fight against sex child trafficking continues. Please watch this video where the president and founder, Daniel Jean, of Talitha koumi share a brief retrospection of year 2021 and share hopes and plans for 2022.

CLICK to watch.

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LAST EFFORT BEFORE CHRISTMAS-MEET PUTRI, OUR YOUNG PROTÉGÉE !

First, on behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your regular or ad hoc support, in prayer or in donations.

Rest assured that your financial sacrifice is literally changing the lives of young girls in Indonesia. Without Talitha Koumi, our protected young people simply cannot go to school and eat their fill.

At the end of the year, I allow myself to make one last appeal to your generosity. About $ 1000 is missing from Talitha Koumi’s coffers to cover the tuition fees of the 14 young girls we are supporting for January and February.

In less than 10 days, I have to proceed with the money transfer to Indonesia.

There are no small donations. Give within your means.

I also take this email to introduce you to one of our proteges, the young Putri. I believe that like me you will fall in love with her!

Good viewing !

Lick HERE to watch the video.

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A reminder: People we help are real people with real needs

Just click on the image to meet Yeti Junita !

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COVID-19 and Indonesia: 12 years of progress threatened

For more than 250 million people around the world, the numbers don’t lie: There will indeed be a PRE COVID-19 world and a POST COVID-19 world. In the current state of affairs, Indonesia, like many other countries, is grappling with an idle youth, growing inequalities in education and a future strewn with often insurmountable obstacles for women wishing to access real economic opportunities.

It is in this world that Dea Augustin evolves. She is a 13-year-old orphan that Talitha Koumi and Kusuma Bongas have taken under their wing. She lives with her grandmother and they are among the poorest of the poor who earn an average of $ 1.90 per day. The world is currently hit by a perfect storm made up of the trio COVID, armed conflict and climate change. These 3 phenomena combined will plunge 99 million more people into extreme poverty.

As for today, there are around 257 million people making $ 3.20 per day. Of this number, the 15-24 age group in Indonesia is hit hard. But there are major differences between the less fortunate in rural areas, undereducated and resigned to their fate, and young people in the suburbs. They are more educated, more urbanized and much less inclined to agricultural work in rice fields, for example. As they are more aware of those going on around them, this segment of the population may not accept being sidelined so easily and always suffer the consequences of decisions not emanating from their control.

Currently, Talitha Koumi is able to support Dea (as well as 13 other young girls) in the pursuit of her studies. She is currently in junior high school and her dream is to become a doctor. As the graph illustrates, the situation of extrême poverty in Asia was improving continuously since the 2008 stock market crash, but the current pandemic has distorted all the cards.

Economists use the GINI index to assess the distribution of wealth in a population. The greater this index, the greater the inequalities. Since March 2020, this index has continued to increase and Asia is the first affected region, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa.

Concretely, if we combine the GINI index with the fact that 25% of the Indonesian population has not worked since March, the country (and the countries of South Asia) is heading towards an unparalleled human catastrophe despite all the measures implemented. up by the Indonesian government.

Anyone who says growing inequalities means growing human trafficking. The traffickers rely on the fragility and distress of potential victims in order to trap them in their nets. In these moments, many parents see in their daughter only a way out of extreme poverty and many young girls, orphans or abandoned by their families, have no choice but to sell their bodies in order to have a place to stay and eat.

Talitha Koumi has been working for more than 3 years in the Indramayu district, the cradle of prostitution in Indonesia (to access our report on this subject, click HERE). When we know that barely 20 years ago, there was no electricity, no running water and no paved road in the village of Bongas, it would be illusory to believe that Dea’s situation will improve like no other. magic.

Economists use the GINI index to assess the distribution of wealth in a population. The greater this index, the greater the inequalities. Since March 2020, this index has continued to increase and Asia is the first affected region, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa.

Concretely, if we combine the GINI index with the fact that 25% of the Indonesian population has not worked since March, the country (and the countries of South Asia) is heading towards an unparalleled human catastrophe despite all the measures implemented. up by the Indonesian government.

Anyone who says growing inequalities means growing human trafficking. The traffickers rely on the fragility and distress of potential victims in order to trap them in their nets. In these moments, many parents see in their daughter only a way out of extreme poverty and many young girls, orphans or abandoned by their families, have no choice but to sell their bodies in order to ” have a place to stay and eat.

Talitha Koumi has been working for more than 3 years in the Indramayu district, the cradle of prostitution in Indonesia (to access our report on this subject, click HERE). When we know that barely 20 years ago, there was no electricity, no running water and no paved road in the village of Bongas, it would be illusory to believe that Dea’s situation will improve like magic.

rue-bongas

Une typique du village de Bongas, district d’Indramayu, Java Ouest

It is inevitable that a serious economic crisis hits the entire planet because of the drastic measures that had to be taken, or not, to curb the pandemic. Obviously, the various solutions are not producing the expected results, the WORLDOMETER site (link) had 54,724,085 people infected with more than 1.3 million deaths. Never has a health crisis had such a big impact and apart from a hypothetical vaccine that has been eagerly awaited, there is no indication that the horse remedies applied by governments are not causing more problems than the disease itself.

For Dea and her little sister to have a realistic hope of getting through this, NGOs like Talitha Koumi and Yayasan Kusuma Bongas must be able to continue their work. As unrealistic as it sounds to a Canadian or an American, many Indonesian workers cannot work from home either because the Internet is not accessible or because their livelihood does not allow working from home.

Let’s face it, tough times are looming ahead. This pandemic will concretely drag a minimum of 100 million new people into extreme poverty, the life expectancy and quality of life of hundreds of millions of people will be affected and South Asia will be one of the most affected regions.

That’s why Talitha Koumi needs you more than ever. There are 300,000 women victims of prostitution and 90,000 of them are minors. They could be your daughters or your neighbors.

Talitha Koumi’s mission has two components: a) Prevention, one of the means of which is keeping young girls in school and b) social reintegration consisting of assisting young prostitutes wishing to get out of the clutches of prostitution.

To help Talitha Koumi:

Together we are making a difference. Are you going to engage in combat with us?

Daniel Jean

CEO and founder of Talitha Koumi

 

 

 

References for this post

How COVID-19 Will Increase Inequality in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies

How COVID-19 Will Increase Inequality in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies

The impact of COVID-19 on global poverty under worsening growth and inequality

https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/impact-covid-19-global-poverty-under-worsening-growth-and-inequality

https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/34451/September-2020-PovcalNet-Update-What-s-New.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Poverty and shared prosperity

http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/963481563917599502/mpo-idn.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

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Talitha koumi and kusuma Bongas serving our girls

Nothing bring me more joy than seing in direct our girls in Indonesia being served and taken care of !

We are very grateful for our partnership with Kusuma Bongas in the Indramayu district.

Take a look at our girls and meet Mr. Nonot Terryano, our faithful collaborator and street worker.

To watch the video, click HERE.

TO DONATE AND SUPPORT US, click HERE.

Yours truly,

Daniel Jean

CEO and founder of Talitha Koumi

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Daniel share his calling and some anecdotes

To get our latest News letter, juste click HERE

 

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Talitha koumi in action despite the pandemic

Pandemic or not, the fight against sex trafficking of young girls in Indonesia must continue. And it continues!

Thanks to a grant from the organization Dark Bali, TK can offer food aid to 10 new families for 2 months, which brings the total number of families supported by us to 19.

Currently (the schools are closed), our aid is food but as soon as the schools open, we will return to our primary mission: The prevention of prostitution and the reintegration of young girls victims of prostitution.

This year, the goal was to support 15 families by June 2020. By June 2021, we are targeting a target of 100 families. Do you have the audacity to pray with faith, with me, to this end? Will you support us financially on a regular basis?

Finally, here are 2 links to watch a short video of TK working in the field as well as an interview that I gave to a TV program from the Ministry of Teaching Me.

Good viewing !

TK in the field

Daniel Jean in interview The interview begins at minute 20 (Sorry, in french only)

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Talitha koumi and its actions during the pandemic

This blog will be short. I just want to share with you the latest news from our daughters in Indonesia.

First, the good news. TK received last week a donation of $ 1,500 CAD from the NGO Dark Bali.This aid is intended to provide food to 10 new families for 2 months in the village of Bongas where we work with the Kusuma Bongas Foundation (Bongas flowers).

I will also participate in a ZOOM meeting with several NGOs involved in the fight against sex trafficking of girls in Indonesia Tuesday May 26 at 11:00 p.m. (offset required) in order to take stock of the situation of sex trafficking in this period pandemic.

On this subject, our collaborator Mr. Nono Terryano (on the photo above) gave me an update on the situation for the district of Indramayu and it is not rosy.

Already highly vulnerable to odd jobs that do not even allow them to support themselves, current families have seen their situation worsen by the loss of these odd jobs. As there is practically no government aid in Indonesia to guarantee a minimum of income, our collaborator notes a clear increase in domestic violence.

As the abusers and predators take no rest but take advantage of the crisis to extend their grip on families, they are even more tempted to sell their daughters to prostitution networks. Let us remember that extreme poverty is the number 1 factor leading to prostitution and that the situation in Indonesia has considerably deteriorated with this pandemic.

Currently, it costs approximately $ 118 CAD to provide the following commodities (rice, sugar, eggs, instant noodles, vegetable oil, mask and hand sanitizer) to a family for a period of 2 months.

To donate click HERE

On behalf of all the families that TK helps, I say a BIG thank you.

Daniel Jean

CEO Talitha Koumi

Photographer reporter

www.talithakoumi.org

 

 

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