I first heard about Freeset at Relevant. I saw the bags and the display. I didn’t pay it too much attention. It wasn’t until I got home that I figured out what Freeset was all about!
Freeset exists specifically to provide freedom for women from the sex trade, women who were forced into prostitution by trafficking or poverty. These women didn’t choose their profession it was chosen for them.
Freeset is located in Sonagacchi, the largest, most infamous sex district in Kolkata, India. Within a few square miles more than 10,000 women stand in line selling their bodies to thousands of men who visit daily. Many are trafficked from Bangladesh, Nepal and rural India. For others poverty has left them without options. The cries of their hungry children drive them to sell their bodies.
It saddens me that this goes on! It makes my heart happy that we can help!
Let me introduce you to one lady:
“The day I got my first salary at Freeset I didn’t know what was happening. I was given an envelope at the end of the working day and I just put it into my drawer. That night I wondered what was inside it… The next morning when I came to work, I asked the production manager about it. She was surprised that I hadn’t opened the envelope and told me that inside was my salary. So, I opened it up and was extremely happy to find a note of Rs.500 inside. After that I have never forgotten to open the envelope as soon as I get it.”Jayashri admits that before she joined Freeset, she had no routine in her life. When she was working in the line she used to get irregular money and never planned or had any intention of saving what she earned. But now she says, things have changed, “After beginning work at Freeset and being provided with a fixed salary, I have learned how to keep things balanced and how to save.”“In the beginning my confidence level was zero. I could never imagine that one day I really would be good at sewing. I think the way we are trained here is really effective. However bad my sewing was, I was always encouraged to continue my work and never to feel negative about my progress.”“In the beginning my sewing was very bad. But slowly I improved and today I am very good at sewing. When I started working on the pedal machine it was difficult. But after working on it the whole day I used to go back home, at night I used to say that my feet were still working on the machine as if they are dancing.” Jayashri’s big bright smile is a welcome sight on the production floor at Freeset.
Freeset is located in Calcutta, India, helping to free women from human trafficking by providing them employment with dignity through sewing bags. Every woman is provided medical insurance, retirement, daycare for their children, classes to learn how to read and write, and three times the wage they would receive “in line.” Join us every day December 1-12 in Freeset’s Freedom Tour of 12 Days of Freedom with Freeset and become a part of the freedom story. Watch our video, shop our bags, change lives.
**Do you want to WIN one of their bags? Head over to my new blog DIVA Girls.Dressing In Virtuous Attire. In celebration of the launch Freeset has given me a bag to giveaway.
Please make sure to show Freeset some love!
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