MICHIGAN friends! All this week Lorla’s in Northville is offering 20% off any full price item in the store when you bring in a gently used bra to donate to Free The Girls! Thank you Lorla’s!
Blog
May 14, 2012
Hey Northwest ladies! Starting tomorrow (Tues May 15) our friends at Title Nine are having their bra “Fit Fests” and collecting bras for Free The Girls! Come in for a fitting and a new bra, and drop off your gently used bra. Thank you Ginny at Title Nine Portland!
May 15 – Seattle Title Nine Fit Fest
May 16 – Bellevue Title Nine Fit Fest
June 13 – Portland Title Nine Fit Fest
April 18, 2012
Thank you Tufts University!
From the event organizers:
“The Tufts University School of Medicine Family Medicine Interest Group, in collaboration with Physicians for Human Rights and Global Health Interest Group, is pleased to announce a week-long fundraising effort for Free the Girls (FTG). FTG is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing jobs opportunities to women rescued from sex trafficking. There is link between sex trafficking and health outcomes, including transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, psychological trauma, injuries as a result of violence, negative reproductive health outcomes, and substance abuse. As future physicians, we are excited to get involved with groups such as FTG that help women who have been subjected to these health risks.
We have set a goal of collecting 1000 bras, as well as a $1000 to help with the shipment costs for the bras to Mozambique. To reach this goal, we will be throwing a “Spring Cleaning” party at The Greatest Bar on Friday April 27th at 8pm. Bring a bra or $10 to the party. We will also be running a collection table from April 30 to May 4 on the 4th floor of the Sackler Building from 12-1pm. We are asking for monetary donation and bras. If you cannot make it to Sacker during those times, but still wish to donate, please contact Leah McDonald (leah.mcdonald@tufts.edu) or drop them off to Evan Glasson in the Department of Family Medicine on the 1st floor of M&V. Please address checks to: Free The Girls, 8200 S. Quebec St. #A3-137, Centennial, CO 80112. ”
April 12, 2012
Oconee Presbyterian Church in Watkinsville, GA is hosting a bra drive Saturday April 28th, from 9am-1pm
April 12, 2012
April 12, 2012
from Derriere de Soie:
“We are so happy to announce that we will be hosting our very first Free The Girls: Fight Human Trafficking bra drive & bra fitting event at both our Richmond and Charlottesville locations! Every woman could benefit from a free bra fitting, cleaning out her drawers, and donating to a great cause. Get fitted with us to find your RIGHT size bra, and donate your gently used bras to Free The Girls. See postcard attached for more information. We hope you can make it!”
April 12, 2012
From the event organisers:
“Post Passover Freedom Bra Collection. Between now and the festival of Shavuot (Pentecost) in June we’re participating in a massive, national Big Bra Hunt to give people in the developing world an opportunity to run their own second hand clothing businesses.
Join us!
Step 1
Hunt out your forgotten bras – the gifts that don’t fit, the ones that looked better in the shop…Then ask the other girls you know to do the same.
Step 2
Bring your bras to the collection points at MoHoLo, New North London Synagogue or start a collection in your office to hunt out even more bras.
Step 3
Pat yourself on the back – your bras will make a brilliant, life-changing difference.”
Check out the FB event for more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/310879155652485/
April 12, 2012
Alpha Delta Pi at the University of Kansas will be holding a campus wide fundraising and donation event for Free the Girls next week (4-16 through 4-20).
The University of Kansas is located in Lawrence, KS and the event will take place at Wescoe Beach on campus.
Thank you Alpha Delta Pi! Have fun with the event!
March 30, 2012
Since we started as an organization, we have had a number of requests from individuals seeking to work with the women in our program. We love the hearts of the women and men who want to visit the project and lavish the ladies with love and encouragement. However, for a number of reasons, we simply don’t allow visitors.
The primary reason we don’t allow visitors is that we don’t believe that short-term visits from outsiders are best for the long-term health and reintegration of the women. Agreeing with experts in the field of trauma, we believe that slow and patient investment by our committed staff and partners in the field is the best approach to reintegration.
The second reason we don’t allow visitors is security. Some of the ladies we work with are still on the run from those who were controlling them in the past. Others have testified to authorities about their captors and their identities need to be protected.
The third reason we don’t allow visitors is that we operate with a very lean staff, and we need our staff’s time and attention focused on working with the women in our program, not facilitating trips for visitors.
***For members of the press: Although we don’t allow regular visitors to our projects, because it is our desire to be an open organization, we do allow some members of the press to visit our projects in order to interview our staff and women in the program who are willing to sit for an interview. If you are a credentialed member of the press, you can arrange a visit to our project in Mozambique with our International Director.
March 26, 2012
Now through April 11th you can bring your gently used bras to:
Mountain View High School FCCLA
3500 Mountain Lion Drive
Loveland, CO 80537
March 24, 2012
The bras arrived safely in Chicago! Much gratitude again to Rick Youngquist and CBRY Trucking! Click on the link below for pictures and details on what’s next as we prepare to send the bras sailing!
http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/707606/904834698b/1783508713/1615c7eda9/
March 22, 2012
WHAT A GREAT DAY! Today we sent 28,400 bras on their way to LRI in Chicago to await (and be prepared for) shipping to Mozambique!! It was a real team effort and our most heartfelt thanks goes to:
Marc Veldhuizen and Good Neighbor Garage for help loading and unloading, and transportation from the storage unit!
Lisa Langas and Sport Haley, Inc. for warehouse space, loading dock and help with palletizing all those boxes!
Rick Youngquist and CBRY trucking for generously donating their time and truck to drive the bras all the way from Denver to Chicago!
Truckers Against Trafficking for helping us find Rick and CBRY!
Our MVVS (most valuable volunteers) Nathanael Shue, Gennevieve St. Leger, and Raeann Langas!! Nice muscles, team!
And thank you to our friends at CNN for joining us again to document the journey of the bras and tell the story of how all these great people have connected to help change the lives of trafficking survivors!
March 20, 2012
Free The Girls is proud to partner with Journelle for their 2012 Spring Cleaning Bra Drive, starting this Wednesday March 21st! Bring (or send) in a used bra to Journelle and receive 20% off a new bra! See flyer below for details or visit: http://www.journelle.com/spring-cleaning
March 19, 2012
THANK YOU to our new warehouse partner Sport Haley, Inc! Sport Haley has generously donated their warehouse and loading dock for us to get the bras ready for shipment! (maybe as early as this Wednesday–stay tuned for details!)
March 10, 2012
We are thrilled to announce that LR International has generously donated shipping our first load of bras from the U.S. to Mozambique!
Stay tuned for details in the coming weeks as we prepare to send thousands of bras sailing overseas!
LRI’s incredible gift, combined with your generous contributions, ensures that we can soon replenish inventory for the women already in the program and give more survivors a flexible, sustainable way to support themselves while they go to school and recover from the atrocities they’ve endured.
March 2, 2012
Bay Area ladies–gather those brassieres! Kristina Wolf Design will be at “First Friday Art Murmur” collecting bras for Free The Girls on Friday March 2, from 6-9pm.
Address:
Uptown Body and Fender
401 26th Street
Oakland, CA 94612
February 28, 2012
MARCH 5-29, 2012
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
2255 E. Evans Avenue, Denver, CO 80208
The National Women Law Students’ Organization (NWLSO) is conducting a clothing drive, more specifically a bra drive, at the University of Denver SCOL to help support Free the Girls. (If you are not in Colorado your donations can be mailed).
NWLSO will have a table set up for all of March Monday through Thursday from 12 to 1 pm and again from 4 to 5 pm to take any donations. If these times are inconvenient for you please do not hesitate to email Gennevieve (gstlegerdesalazar14@law.d
Link to Facebook event page:
February 22, 2012
Free The Girls is honored to be featured in a series of stories by the CNN Freedom Project airing Feb 20-22, 2012. Part Three of the story can be viewed here:
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/22/bras-liberate-women-from-sex-slavery/
We applaud CNN’s commitment to reporting on the issue of modern day slavery through their CNN Freedom Project.
February 21, 2012
Free The Girls is honored to be featured in a series of stories by the CNN Freedom Project airing Feb 20-22, 2012. Part 2 introduces one of the survivors who particpiated in our pilot sales program and can be viewed online here:
http://edition.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c3#/video/world/2012/02/21/cfp-mozambique-slavery-2.cnn
We applaud CNN’s commitment to reporting on the issue of modern day slavery through their CNN Freedom Project.
February 20, 2012
Free The Girls is honored to be featured in a series of stories by the CNN Freedom Project. The stories are currently slated to air in 3 parts on 3 consecutive days: Mon Feb 20, Tues Feb 21, and Wed Feb 22, 2012. The first part (link below), sets up the issue of sex trafficking in Mozambique, and introduces the woman who rescues victims and runs the safehouse Free The Girls works alongside.
February 20, 2012
Free The Girls is honored to be featured in a series of stories by the CNN Freedom Project. The stories are currently slated to air in 3 parts on 3 consecutive nights: Mon Feb 20, Tues Feb 21, and Wed Feb 22, 2012. We will post links here on the site as we get them. A heartfelt thank you to CNN for bringing modern day slavery to light through their CNN Freedom Project, and for helping tell the story of the survivors we work with.
February 18, 2012
We’re excited that you’re interested in hosting a drive! It’s such a fun way to bring new people to the cause. And since Free The Girls is a start-up, grass-roots organization, it’s a real blessing for us to have passionate volunteers like you to help us spread the word in other states/regions.
There aren’t any “official” rules or procedures for bra drives at this point–we like to let our supporters use their own creativity to create inspiring events that celebrate and honor women. It can be something small like collecting bras and donations from your friends or co-workers at a happy hour or in-home gathering, or a larger church/ community drive or benefit concert.
We want to stay personally connected with you as you plan your event, so please let us know as soon as you have an event on the calendar so we can help promote it on Facebook and our website. (email us at events@freethegirls.com and put the date of your event in the subject line). And of course, we’re here to support you in any way we can! Below are some materials you may find helpful, including a customizable flyer; info sheet to print and hand out; logo and sample flyers; and a sheet to include with your shipment of bras and donations after your event.
February 21, 2012
Unfortunately we cannot accept donations of bras sent directly to Mozambique at this time. Our team in Mozambique has had difficulties with packages arriving safely. When they have arrived, the process of processing the package through customs is so time consuming, we have decided to no longer accept individual shipments sent to Mozambique. We are truly sorry if sending a donation to the USA is too expensive or impossible.
In the future, we are hoping to add an international partner who would be willing to accept donations on our behalf and coordinate occasional large shipments.
Our U.S. address is:
Free The Girls
8200 S. Quebec St. #A3-137
Centennial, CO 80112
February 19, 2012
Indiana continues to support Free The Girls! Our friends at Rock 98.5 and Rock Bottom Grill in Kokomo, Indiana are collecting donations for Free The Girls at their “Mardi Bras” party on Fat Tuesday (Feb 21)! Swing by with a brassiere or two if you’re in the area!
January 10, 2012
Denver Friends! Don’t miss the Avenue Theater’s 25th Anniversary kick-off show, String of Pearls! This is a great show for a girls night out! The ALL WOMAN CAST is as vibrant as they are unique, and play a range of characters and ages from 3 to 63 over a span of 35 years! Now playing through February 25th. Bring a gently used bra to donate to Free The Girls and save $3 on a general admission ticket!
February 18, 2012
Hosting a “bucket of bras” (bra donation bin) at your business, church or school is a great way to support us, foster community involvement, and drive traffic to your location. Just download the donation bin sign below; print out on 8 1/2 x 11 paper; and stick it on a box, storage bin, or basket. You can also download the FTG one sheet below and print as handouts for people who visit your location. Many businesses have offered discounts or specials deals for anyone who brings in a bra to donate. Be sure to email us at events@freethegirls.com and give us your information so we can add you as a drop-off location and supporter on our Facebook page and website. All we ask in return is that you occasionally box up some bras and mail them to us parcel post–you can even collect donations on site to help with the nominal cost of mailing the bras. Have fun and thank you!!
February 21, 2012
Second-hand clothing is very popular in Mozambique and in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Enormous containers full of donated items from the USA, Europe, Australia, etc. arrive every day in ports across the continent and are sold on the streets by budding entrepreneurs. Most of the clothes are purchased by the poor and working class. However, even wealthier members of society regularly take advantage of the amazing deals available on the street.
February 19, 2012
Please print the form below and include with your shipment or drop-off:
February 21, 2012
Free The Girls accepts new and gently used bras of all shapes, sizes, colors and styles, including sports bras, nursing/maternity bras, camisoles, etc. We receive many bras that are brand new with tags still on—we encourage those who are donating new bras to leave the tags on as this increases the resale value.
Every bra of every kind has tremendous value to these brave survivors of sex trafficking—so thank you for your support!
February 21, 2012
Below is a list of locations where you can drop off bra donations. We will be updating frequently as we add new locations, so please keep checking back if you don’t see a drop-off in your area. And if you’re interested, we could sure use some help in finding more businesses and establishments to partner with us and become drop-off locations! Click here for more info.
COLORADO:
Boulderfields (Longmont)
The Avenue Theater (downtown Denver)
The Next Level Church (Englewood)
Curves (Evergreen)
CALIFORNIA:
Kristina Wolf Design
260 Alvarado Rd
Berkeley, CA 94705
510.848.8773
MISSOURI:
Andrea Nichols, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Sociology
St. Louis Community College, Forest Park
5600 Oakland Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63110
Office (314) 644-9654
anichols@stlcc.edu
MICHIGAN:
Lorla’s
142 N. Center St.
Northville, MI 48167
Hotline: 248-444-4192
MONTANA:
Second Helpings Thrift Store (at Flathead Food Bank)
1203 Hwy 2 West, Suite 1
(Old Corral West)
Kalispell, Montana 59901
http://www.flatheadfoodbank.com/second_helpings.php
TENNESSEE:
Pregnancy Resource Center
3028 Old Niles Ferry Road
Maryville, Tn 37803
865-977-8378
TEXAS:
The Eye Gallery
1900 Preston Rd. #265
Plano, Texas 75093
CANADA:
Susan Shewan
27128 28th Ave
Aldergrove, BC
V4W3A3
Canada
POLAND:
INNOVATIQUE
Barbara Białek
ul. Wazów 8
33-300 Nowy Sącz
Poland
February 21, 2012
At Free The Girls, we have done our best to create a system of financial sustainability for rescued woman to transition back into society. As long as people in the West continue to donate clothes to charity, there will be second-hand clothing markets somewhere in the world. By donating directly to Free The Girls, our supporters allow us to lower our costs and therefore give the women we work with a competitive advantage over others who sell second-hand clothes. We believe that enterprise has a role to play in the rehabilitation of survivors of human trafficking, and your bra donations make small businesses happen. Free The Girls is committed to providing real jobs and real opportunities for trafficking survivors.
February 21, 2012
Wearing a Free The Girls shirt is a fun and stylish way to help support the cause and increase awareness. We most certainly want to make our shirts available to girls of all shapes and sizes, and are working to find additional shirt suppliers who can produce fair trade paperwork on the manufacturing of their garments and who have a price point that keeps our shirts affordable for everyone. Whew! Not always an easy task!
Please keep checking back, and we’ll definitely announce on our website and Facebook as soon as we have new styles or sizes in stock.
February 20, 2012
Thank you for your interest in a story or feature on Free The Girls. We appreciate our media partners who help bring attention to the issue of modern day slavery. Below is a press kit and logo you can download. If you need more information, an interview, or just want to drop us a line and say hello, please do so here. Thank you!
February 1, 2012
INDIANA FRIENDS! Today through Feb 15th, please bring your gently used bras to one of the following locations in the Columbus area: Columbus Bar, The Mix, The Living Room, Secret Sounds & Community Downtown. Much gratitude to these partners and to Whitney Andress Ulm for organizing this event!
http://www.powerhousebrewingco.com/
http://www.the-living-room.org/
http://www.secretsoundsmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TrueColorsPM
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Community-Downtown/140904005989045
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Mix/290127694348052
January 11, 2012
Friends, today is NATIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS DAY. Let’s send our thoughts and prayers to the millions of people enslaved all around the world. Have a spare minute or two? Send us a quick note of encouragement we can share with the rescued girls we work with: post on our FB page, comment below, or drop a card or letter in the mail to: Free The Girls, 8200 S. Quebec Street A3-137, Centennial, CO 80112. Let them know you care! Thank you!
November 10, 2011
DENVER ladies! You deserve a night out. You really, really do.
Gather up your gently used bras and join us next Thursday 11/17 for a fanciful night of cocktails, fashion, and culinary delights courtesy of our friends at Keri Blair Image Experts, Market Advisory Partners and A Spice of Life Catering!!
Click here for details and to RSVP.
November 7, 2011
INDIANA ladies! If you’re in Valparaiso (and surrounding areas) and have bras to donate, please contact our friend Pam this week at pamela.gumns@hotmail.com
February 21, 2012
Free The Girls is a non-profit organization in good standing with the state of Colorado. We have applied for 501 (c ) (3) tax exempt status, and we expect to receive it in 2012.
October 21, 2011
So excited to be in CA for Not For Sale’s Global Forum on Human Trafficking!! What a lineup of amazing speakers: Desmond Tutu, Jack Dorsey, Mira Sorvino, Sarah Ferguson, David Batstone, and many more! Ready to be inspired and energized in the fight against human trafficking! If you can’t make it to the Forum, NFS will be streaming it live beginning at 11:00am Pacific time Friday October 21st. Here’s the link: http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/gf2011/
October 19, 2011
Do you live in East Tennessee? Sunday, November 13 from 6-8pm at Foothills Church on Lamar Alexander Parkway in Maryville:
Triple I: Investigating Human Trafficking around the world AND in Tennessee; getting Involved to make a difference; becoming an Influence for change.
Speakers:
Senator Doug Overbey-Tennessee
Mission Team Moldova
Featuring:
Not for Sale – Brittney Thomas, KY (www.notforsale.org )
Free the Girls – providing job opportunities to women rescued from sex trafficking
**Please bring your gently used bras and bucks to donate to Free the Girls…the bras go to the girls, the bucks help us ship the bras to Africa
Exhibits and Resources
SPECIAL: Fair Trade Market – all proceeds from items sold will go to support women and children in crisis.
**This event is sponsored by Blount County Global Women
http://www.globalwomengo.org/
October 19, 2011
Human trafficking is defined by the U. S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act as:
The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
A victim need not be physically transported from one location to another in order for the crime to fall within these definitions.
October 19, 2011
$32 BILLION:
The total market value of illicit human trafficking is estimated to be in excess of $32 billion
27 million:
Currently 27 million men, women and children are being held as slaves—more today than in any other time in history
80% women and girls:
Women and girls comprise at least 80% of the world’s trafficking victims, and up to 50% are minors. They are exploited in fields and brothels, in homes and conflicts, and in factories and fisheries. More women are being pushed out of developing countries due to economic, familial, and societal pressures – becoming ever more vulnerable to modern slavery.
Women continue to be enslaved in commercial sex around the world. They are often arrested for participating in a crime that victimizes them when they should instead be provided with services and benefit from a well-trained police force implementing proven and compassionate victim identification measures.
Women continue to toil in sweatshop factories without food or break, sewing garments, peeling shrimp, and weaving carpets under threat of violence. Bonded by debt and force, they pick cotton, mine conflict minerals, and harvest rice alongside their children. They toil in diplomatic households and suburban residences as domestic workers often without anyone knowing they are there let alone being abused.
2 million:
According to UNICEF, as many as two million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade. Sex trafficking has devastating consequences for minors, including long-lasting physical and psychological trauma, disease (including HIV/AIDS), drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism, and possible death.
(Sources: Trafficking In Persons Report 2010, Kevin Bales, Disposable People, U.S. State Dept)
October 19, 2011
Here are some great organizations fighting to abolish modern day slavery, increase awareness, and help victims:
www.combathumantrafficking.org
www.truckersagainsttrafficking.com
February 20, 2012
(article written and submitted by Gennevieve St. Leger)
Why Human Trafficking?
Why do criminals and criminal organizations traffic in humans? This question can be answered with one word: money. Human trafficking is the third most profitable business for organized crime; the first and second are drug and arms trafficking. Pino Arlacchi, Director General for the International Seminar on Trafficking in Human Beings in Brazil, states that many drug traffickers are switching to human trafficking due to higher profits and lower risk. The United Nations estimates the total number of people trafficked every year is between 700 thousand and 1 million.[1] It also estimates that 79 percent of these victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation. Human trafficking takes place in every country and it generates tens of billions of dollars of profit each year. [2]
What is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is “the acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud, or deception, with the aim of exploiting them.[3]” Human Trafficking applies to all people, not just women but men too. Not just children but also adults. Sometimes people are forced away from their homes violently. Other times they are tricked with promises of food, shelter, and an overall better life. Sometimes a trusted friend or family member sees a poor family struggling and offers to take custody of a child or two to provide them with better shelter and ample food. Some are told they can get a good paying farming or factory job in a nearby town; however, they never get what they are promised. The main objective of traffickers is to exploit the people they take. This exploitation can be sexual; forcing the victims to become prostitutes in brothels or sex slaves for a master. Or, this exploitation can be based on labor; where victims are forced into various forms of non-sexual servitude.
What is the Difference Between Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Persons?
Smuggling of persons is when one pays a person to smuggle them into a county illegally. One of the main differences between human trafficking and smuggling is consent. Victims of human trafficking do not consent to being transported to another country nor do they consent to what happens when they get to their destination. In smuggling, the person wants to go to the country the smuggler takes them to. Once a smuggled immigrant gets into his or her desired country that person is free to find employment, to find a place to live, and so-on. A victim of human trafficking is forced to work where his or her abductors demand and the victim does not receive any compensation for the work; the abductors keep all proceeds of the victims’ labor. Smuggling is always transporting a person from one country to another. Many human trafficking victims never leave their country, or even their state. Sometimes, people who pay to be smuggled into another country become victims of human trafficking. After being voluntarily smuggled into another country these victims become exploited by their smugglers and are forced into brothels or to work for very little or nothing.[4]
October 19, 2011
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam
Terrify No More: Young Girls Held Captive and the Daring Undercover Operation to Win Their Freedom by Gary A. Haugen and Gregg Hunter
Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves by Kevin Bales
Free the Children by Craig Kielburger
Slave Hunter by Aaron Cohen and Christine Buckley
Not For Sale by David B. Bastone
The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade by Victor Malarek
Modern Slavery: The Secret World of 27 Million People by Zoe Trodd, Kevin Bales, Alex Kent Williamson
The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today by Kevin Bales
Disposable People by Kevin Bales
Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery by Siddharth Kara
Enslaved: True Stories of Modern Day Slavery by Sage Jesse, Liora Kasten and Gloria Steinem
War Child by Emmanual Jal
October 19, 2011
October 14, 2011
Yoga Pearl in Portland, Oregon is hosting a unique, relaxing way to support Free The Girls and finish your busy week with purpose and compassion:
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14th
Tibetan Singing Bowl Immersion and Chocolate Meditation Benefiting FREE THE GIRLS!
6:30-7:30pm
$15 plus bra donation
Join Uma Kleppinger in a deeply relaxing immersion in the magical and resonant sounds of Tibetan and Japanese Singing Bowls. Part sound meditation, part yoga nidra, and part concert, this evening’s event is dedicated to the cause Free the Girls, which provides support to girls and women who have been sold into prostitution as sex slaves. As we send our used undergarments to be recycled and made into objects of liberation, we will also send our compassion in the form of metta meditation, riding waves of sound, creating a Butterfly Effect of strength and power, half a world away. We’ll also enjoy a luxurious CHOCOLATE MEDITATION with handmade, organic, vegan truffles by Rawdacious Desserts, from Portland, OR.
September 24, 2011
There is no doubt that second-hand clothing had an effect on local production in the past. However, researchers have shown that the current impact is far less than would be assumed. The greatest impact on the production of new clothing in Africa has been the rise of low-cost production in Asia. Just like in the West, most of Africa gets most of its new clothing from Asia. Even traditional Mozambican capolanas are no longer produced in Mozambique, but say “Made in India”!
Although we welcome dialogue about the effects of second-hand clothing on local production of new clothing, we believe its effect in the markets we work in is minimal.
There are two great studies worth reading:
The Impact of Second-Hand Clothing Trade on Developing Countries (Sally Baden and Catherine Barber. 2005)
Riches from Rags or Persistent Poverty? A Critical Discussion of the Urban Livelihoods of Used-Clothing Traders in Mozambique (Andrew Brooks. 2011)
September 17, 2011
Colorado friends and shopaholics!
Free The Girls is excited to participate in a unique local fundraising opportunity at the Outlets of Castle Rock!
You’ll love the Shopping Extravaganza! It’s a fun-filled day of exclusive bargains for ticketholders, plus a catered lunch, live jazz, art show, raffle drawing and much more! The holidays are right around the corner, so this is your chance to get your shopping done early for less money! Hope to see you there! (bring bras, too, if you have them!)
Click here for more info and to purchase your ticket. Remember to designate Free The Girls as your charity of choice. Thanks for supporting the cause!
September 15, 2011
If you’re currently collecting bras or have a public drive/event coming up, please let us know! We can help you reach more people by posting the details for you here, as well as on our Facebook page.
September 15, 2011
At Free The Girls we believe that publicly supported organizations should always let the public know where their dollars are going. We are fortunate in that our overhead is very low, and is fully funded by private donors and supporters, so 100% of public donations goes to help fund rescue and rehabilitation programs. We will be posting more detailed financial information shortly. If you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
September 15, 2011
Free The Girls is so fortunate to have great partners and sponsors who have helped us grow in the short year we’ve been around! THANK YOU!!
September 15, 2011
Julieta is one of the rescued girls who participated in our pilot sales program at a safe house in Mozambique. Here is her story in her own words:
“As a child I suffered. My mom died and I didn’t have food at home and so I needed help. Those who helped me sent me to work on the street as a prostitute. I was 9 years old.
I had to live in camps and abandoned houses. Sometimes I would run away and find a center that wanted to help. But prostitution was the only life I knew, the only way I knew how to make money, and so I would run away from the center, from those who were trying to help me.
I had heard of Deborah through some friends. I got to know more about her center from some other girls. They gave me food and a place to stay.
Living on the street is very violent. There are fights about money and clothes. I have a friend who lost an eye in a fight. I was in a lot of fights.
One of the men I was with attacked me. He picked up a rock and smashed my leg.
Deborah heard about it and came to visit me in the hospital. She gave me food. She kept visiting me and she helped me to leave the street.
Now I am living with other girls who have graduated from the center. I have dreams to support and build my family.”
September 15, 2011
Ofleia is one of the rescued girls who participated in our pilot sales program at a safe house in Mozambique. Here is her story in her own words:
“I want to cry already. My story is so difficult…
Growing up, my family did not have much. My mother worked, but she lost her job. She barely got enough for us to eat. There was never enough for all of us.
I would go to look for water, cabbage and other things to cook. Then one day a man came to offer us help. He offered a better place for me and my sister to stay. He told my mom that he had food.
I didn’t know that he had other plans. We went with him excited to have a better place to live and food to eat. I had no idea he was going to force me into prostitution.
I was 14 years old.
Over the years I worked in 3 different brothels. I even was found by a center who said they help people who lived on the street. But the center was full of girls who worked on the street. Eventually I went to jail.
When I was released I had a difficult choice. I only knew life on the street. But I also knew of Deborah. I had met her many times and had visited her day center before. So when I got out of jail, I went to Deborah’s center.
With Deborah’s help, I got a job and was planning on working. I had a great job working at Medicine for the World downtown, helping kids who live on the street. But then I got sick and lost my job.
It is hard to keep a job when you are sick.
I have lots of plans for the future. I want to change. I want to have health. I want to have a business of my own.”
UPDATE: Ofelia has a job of her own now selling bras
September 15, 2011
Tashina is one of the rescued girls who participated in our pilot sales program at a safe house in Mozambique. Here is her story in her own words:
“I was forced to the street because there wasn’t food or money at home. I was forced to work there to support my family.
Deborah found me and told me don’t be despaired. There is another life. And so I followed a new road with her. I have changed and become a new person.
When I was living on the street is was like being another person. Like living in another person’s body. I’m not that person anymore. You wouldn’t know that I am the same person.
When I lived in Deborah’s project with the other girls they helped me. They still help me. I am very happy for this. For a long time I have been able to live with the project helping me.
What are my dreams? This is my dream. This is my dream. To arrive at the place that I am is already a dream come true.
I want to build a block house. I want to live in a place that is safe. I want to go to school. I want to be somebody. I want to be a teacher, perhaps an educator at a center.
I want to be a great mom. One who encourages. One who is faithful. Who gives my children an education and is an example.
If I would have stayed on the street I would be dead. Many people who I knew stayed on the street and they died. I would have been one of them.”
September 15, 2011
Back in February Free The Girls and The Next Level Church co-hosted a hugely successful bra drive here in Denver. Close to 5000 bras were collected that night, and the bras just kept coming in the weeks and months that followed! The total is over 6000 now. So we’re headed over to the church offices this Saturday to box up the bras and get them ready to ship to Mozambique!
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