Stories from Safe House

---

(Ruta writing) TTTM’s Adanech Safe House has a striking photo album that shows a picture of a woman when she arrives at the safe house, an explanation of her story, and a picture upon her leaving. Wow. Sometimes the transformation is dramatic, not only in her physical appearance, but significantly in the expression of hope and happiness in her face and eyes.

Here are 2 stories that I am summarizing from TTTM literature. The pictures that I have attached are NOT the stories that I list here. For privacy reasons, I do not know any of the exact stories of the people included in these personal pictures.

Woman A - Sexual abuse
- When parents died, went to live with grandmother. When grandmother died, went to work for and live with neighbor. When neighbor died, went to live with neighbor’s grown children.
- She was sexually abused by neighbor’s son. She became pregnant at 13 years old.
- Despite the situation, she had no where to go, and continued to work, pregnant, for the neighbors’ grown children.
- Other neighbors took her to the hospital to give birth. Because of her immature body, the birth required major surgery. She and her baby suffered further complications.
- Kind neighbors and local women’s lawyers brought her to Addis Ababa and to the Adanech Safe House.
- At the safe house, she and her baby were able to get medical treatment, counseling, time to rest, heal, and play. She gave her baby up for adoption, and she herself was placed with foster parents.
- She is now attending school for the first time in her life and enjoying the love and care of a family.

Woman B - Human Trafficking
- From age 7, grew up with grandparents
- After high school, couldn’t find a job, so arranged (for $700) to go to Dubai to find work
- After starting work as a housemaid, she was encouraged that with a steady income, she could pay down her debt and send money home.
- Her employer accused her of having an affair with her husband. Her passport had been confiscated when she first arrived, and now she couldn’t leave.
- It became life threatening for her to stay where she worked, and she escaped.
- On the streets she innocently drank a drugged soft drink, was raped, and got pregnant.
- Her local contacts shunned her. She found help at a women’s shelter in Dubai, where she gave birth.
- She returned to Addis - distraught that she had “failed” her family, had a child without a father, had not paid her debt
- At the Adanech safe house, she received counseling and started recovering from her pain. She gave up the baby for adoption and moved back to her family.

---