In Kenya, Jane and Melisa, both 14, (not their real names) were lured from home by the promise of a better life.

“One day, on our way home after school, a neighbor who lived in a nice house and often travelled out of the village, invited us to her house,” says Jane. “She told us that she had found work for us as housemaids in a very nice place in town, where there are nice people and where we would not be mistreated or beaten. She said we would have our own room, eat good food and get money to buy clothes. We were excited. We had never been to a big town.”

“We want to have new dresses like other girls, and get new shoes and a phone. We want to feel the way that other girls feel, who have their own things,” says Jane, the more outgoing of the two girls.

The opportunity was a trick.

Melisa was taken to the city to work; Jane couldn’t get away, and finally told on her friend.

Through the quick action of community members, law enforcement, and school personnel, they were rescued from a fearful experience of abduction.

The girls received help, counseling, and are back in school. They are glad to be together again in a safe environment.

School offers Jane and Melisa a safe haven where they can learn and also share their dreams about the day they will be independent and earn enough money to have things like other girls.

 

Photo©2014 Dorothy Yator/World Vision