You’ve probably heard the story of the boy who was on the beach throwing starfish into the ocean one at a time. His dad saw what he was doing and asked, “What are you doing? You can’t save all of them.” The boy replied, “Yes, but for that one, I made a big difference.”
That’s one of the ways we view our transit monitoring work. As we monitor the borders for potential victims, we’re saving one woman at a time.
One 34-year-old woman was saved in early May 2022. One area people cross from Lesotho into South Africa is at Van Rooyen’s gate on the west border of Lesotho. Early Monday afternoon, our monitors identified a potential victim after she mentioned she was going to Bloemfontein, where she was currently employed.
However, her passport was last stamped by immigration in 2020, and she was unable to confirm any details about her employer. She said it was a salon where her friend worked, but she didn’t have any contact information for her “friend.”
Later on, she even changed her story and said she was going to work as a domestic helper, which those in the United States would refer to as a maid. She also had far more clothes with her than seemed appropriate and didn’t have enough other resources available for where she was claiming to go.
Unfortunately, that woman’s situation is not unique. For years, the government has largely turned a blind eye to the problem. Now, we’re working with both the Lesotho government and the US government through a partnership with Love Justice International to address the issue.
With our current team of eight monitors and one team leader, we may not be able to save every woman leaving Lesotho. But for the ones we do save, we make a big difference.
We are looking for people who want to get involved and help us end human trafficking. If you would like, please consider making a donation!