We support women and families as they rebuild their lives, offering training, care, and encouragement. Our daycare program ensures children have nutritious food and education, protecting them from the vulnerabilities their mothers once faced.
When Lina was around 13 years old, she was excited to go see a movie with a friend. Instead, she was sold to a brothel, where she worked for almost 19 years. Lina found Friends of Basha through an outreach program and began the process of healing. She looked forward to learning basic literacy and tailoring, and years back, she graduated from our program alongside her daughter. Both secured jobs in the local area, and the last time we saw Lina, she was enjoying being a grandmother.
Our training program provides counselling, support, and the skills women need to rebuild their lives. Participants receive an allowance so they can focus on their training and secure safe housing if they don’t already have it. Training is tailored to each woman’s needs—whether learning to write her name, gaining basic literacy, or taking computer classes. Women also learn to make Basha products and may have the opportunity to work with Basha. Whether working for Basha or pursuing work in the wider community, every woman is prepared and supported to find safe, meaningful employment and step confidently into new opportunities for herself and her family.
At Friends of Basha, we have trained around 90 women like Lina. The reality is that women leaving exploitative situations can’t just get a job. Years of trauma take their toll, and basic skills we take for granted—like how to relate to others—often need to be relearned for the workplace. Women in this situation are extremely vulnerable to further exploitation, and stigmas in a highly conservative culture can be difficult to overcome. In addition to training, we provide safe homes for women who are without families, need emergency shelter, or are too vulnerable to live on their own.
We also recognize the complex factors that lead women into exploitation: struggles for survival, lack of family support, health problems, loss or abandonment by parents or husbands, early marriage, extreme poverty, and more. These challenges are not simple, and empowering women to be safe and free is a long, difficult process. It takes time for women to understand that they are loved and valued and to heal from their past. Learn more about how we work with women as they transition from exploitation into a new future of freedom.
Too often, history repeats itself. We work hard to make sure women and families have the support and encouragement they need to successfully rebuild their lives. We provide full time daycare and sponsor some children in residential programs to make sure these children don’t face the same vulnerabilities that led their mothers to us.
Disha and her mother, Shanta, both benefit from the support that Basha provides. Shanta was forced out of her house when she was pregnant with Disha and had no means to support herself and a small child. Shanta found work at Basha, and Disha is thriving in our daycare environment while her mother works. Our daycare provides a loving, supportive environment for children whose mothers are training or working as artisans with Basha. We supply nutritious food, educational toys, and caring socialization for kids who may have never had such an environment to thrive. Mothers also receive training to help them learn to be nurturing, supportive parents, giving their children the guidance and care they need to flourish.