Keys to Life

When we drove the new vehicle into the gates of Bal Vikas Ashram, I got a lump in my throat. When 33 boys, all survivors of slavery, began to sing, my eyes welled up. When I saw Mark Little--one of the key Rotarians to donating the vehicle to the survivors' rehabilitation center--crying unabashedly, my tears started flowing.

The boys we met at the center were rescued over the past six months from brick, carpet and plastic factories, stone quarries and a hotel where boys cleaned and served customers. Most recently, boys who had been trafficked to another part of the country to work in garbage recycling were rescued and brought to the center.

When I interviewed a few boys with the help of a local Rotarian and the ashram manager, they described waking at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. to get ready for work, dividing their daily food allotment to make two meals, and violence.

Under the dedicated care of ashram staff members, the boys are recovering. They are eating like elephants, learning songs and trade skills for later self-sufficiency, and preparing to return home.

The vehicle contributed by Rotary clubs in USA, England and India will enable staff members to perform raid and rescue operations, transport survivors to medical appointments and court cases, and restore the boys to their families and villages. (The vehicle also served as a Disney-World-type thrill ride for an afternoon as the boys crowded into the seats to ride up and down the driveway.)

It amazes me that a set of keys to one vehicle can provide the keys to life for so many children.

I'll provide more information and photos in later posts, as I get permission.