Beautiful Dream Society aims to give orphans and impoverished children in Lesotho the best chance at a happy, healthy life. These kids face the same challenges as American children—friendship conflicts, career choices, boredom, peer pressure, and big life decisions that they struggle to navigate. At the end of the day, they’re normal kids with normal kid problems, and they need support to get through the growing pains.
Trauma-informed care is a cornerstone of our mission. At Beautiful Dream Society, we assist women, girls, and boys who have experienced human trafficking, sexual assault, gender-based violence, and other traumatic events. Our staff understands the complex thoughts, feelings, and emotions that trauma survivors face, and they use specialized care to accommodate those needs.
Imagine being ripped from your family so young that you don’t even know they exist. Instead of building core memories around the dinner table, your memories are rooted in an unfamiliar land. Such is the case for millions of children who get trafficked every year.
Human trafficking is a problem worldwide. In Lesotho specifically, it may shock you to know it wasn’t even a crime until 2011. As a result, law enforcement there is often at a loss. They don’t know how to handle situations we run into, especially with our transit monitoring program.
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.”
One of the ways we fight human trafficking is through our transit monitoring efforts as a sub-grant recipient of Love Justice International.
After her mother’s passing, Mapaseka and her little sister had nowhere to go. Their relatives weren’t capable of being their reliable, full-time guardians. Fortunately, the Beautiful Dream Society’s staff knew Mapaseka because her mother had previously worked at the BDS children’s home.
“I never thought I would be able to sit and laugh with people without doubting my safety around them,” said Mosa, a human trafficking survivor.
Beautiful Dream Society is looking for leaders in Lesotho who have a passion and vision to fight human trafficking. A board of 10 volunteer members leads our organization. We are looking for additional people to join our team of dedicated board members.
Abusers often promise jobs to young women who need work only to find that those jobs do not exist. This was a common tactic in South Africa, where Basotho women would be promised work only to be exploited on arrival. Unfortunately, this practice has grown rapidly in Lesotho in the past two years.
