Roozt - Get Change From Your Dollar

Roozt - Get Change From Your Dollar

Just learned about this website....checking it out now...hope I LOVE it as much as I THINK I will ;-)

Community Learning Center

Good Morning!

An organization that I really like is Common Threadz. They are a non-profit working to help the developing world achieve success. When you buy any of their clothing, it provides a child with a school uniform or a month of food. Different shirts help different causes. I have two shirts from Common Threadz that I LOVE! I wear them ALL the time.

Right now they are building a community learning center in Little Corn, Nicaragua. They have the roof and they are now building the floor.....BUT.....they still need 55 wood planks. One plank is only $10....can you help them reach this goal by midnight tonight?

When is Enough, Enough?!

KONY 2012! Make KONY Famous! Have you read about this yet? Here is the video that is circulating right now. A friend of mine posted it on my Facebook to watch. I was aware of this awful man before hand but not aware of this organization {Invisible Children} trying to bring about awareness and stop him.

This video has received A LOT of criticism. Anything from being to simplistic to financials not being sound to wrong timing. Since this video went viral on Facebook on Monday the 5th, it has received over 65,000,000 hits! {It is also on Vimeo.com} That is crazy! And awesome!

Everyone seems to have an opinion regarding this 30 minute video, so why not give mine as well.

I certainly don't claim to know everything regarding this issue or politics or military strategies or financials for charities. I believe every human being has the right to live in a safe home, to be protected by their government and have a quality of life. Joseph Kony has terrorized Africa for more than two decades. He and his group LRA {Lord's Resistance Army} specialize in kidnapping children from their homes and turning them into child soldiers. Other atrocities include mass murder, rape, sexual slavery, mutilation and torture. Girls aren't safe either. They are kidnapped to be sex slaves for his army. Estimates range from 30,000 to as many as 105,000 children kidnapped by and Kony and the LRA.  As a result of all this violence 1.7 million people have been displaced.

I don't know what the solution is but I do believe that other countries can't just sit on the sidelines and do nothing. Look at the Holocaust. As a human race, aren't we responsible for each other? I don't know how anyone can think "Well I live in the United States, so this isn't my problem. Africa needs to fix it herself." Or "Hey, this doesn't affect me. I don't need to worry about it." Or "That is how Africa is. They fight and kill each other. Let them be." Yes, Africa does have corrupt governments and rebel armies but that doesn't mean the average African doesn't want or deserve peace. They are caught in the middle of all this injustice. The complexity of the problems in Africa are not easily solved but does that mean we don't even try to fix them?

History will repeat itself if we don't learn from it. The Kony 2012 video may not be perfect BUT many, many people are now aware of this issue. This issue that has been around for two plus decades.

There are many articles now about Kony and the video. Here is one and here is another. In the first article, the last paragraph says "So, instead of continuing to debate the strengths and weaknesses of the Kony 2012 video, or attack Invisible Children for their lack of financial transparency, let's figure out how to turn this momentum into a constructive opportunity that can result in smart policies that will have a positive, real-time impact in the affected areas of central Africa. Let's harness this energy and turn it into something productive that ensure we're telling the right stories, inspiring well-informed advocacy, and working together across governments, academia, grassroots activists and local populations to help bring this chapter of the LRA--and the impact in affected areas--to a close." I LOVE this! So true.

In the first article one man talks about the White Savior Complex. One paragraph responds with this "Is humanity so bitter and divided that anytime someone wants to help those in need or dedicate themselves to a cause that inspires them to action, they must meet racial, national and political requirements, before they are allowed to step up and help? Would a child soldier from Uganda refuse to be rescued because the person extending his hand is white and American? If the angry assertions of  people like Teju Cole become the standard by which we are judged when we want to right a wrong and put a stop to evil, then the world will soon become even more violent and divided than it is now." I know that not everyone who helps is actually helping but at least they are doing something {well to a point}. However what is Teju Cole doing besides ranting about those who want to make this world better?

The second article is from the NY Times Opinion Page. I love this article because it is about someone living in the United States who is and was impacted by Kony and the LRA. However she still has family living in Africa that is affected by Kony. What annoys me about the critics of the video and of Invisible Children is that they seem to forget that a human being has been terrorized for 26 years. The article in the NY Times gives us the personal story of what has been happening in Africa for way to long. We see how it has impacted her life and her families. When is it okay for someone to go through something like this? And how long is it okay for it to keep happening? What if this was OUR family being impacted? What if it was OUR children being kidnapped? What if it was OUR home being destroyed? What if WE were the ones getting displaced?

WHEN IS ENOUGH, ENOUGH?

{Break my Heart til it Moves my Hands & Feet}

I’ve been restless on the inside
wondering about this heart of mine
I’ve been desperately trying to find
a way to prove that I’m still alive
Has the love I speak so loudly of
quietly grown cold

Is my life been an empty voice
what I sing needs to be seen
I need to step out and make the choice
to let go of everything

Would you reignite this heart spark here in the dark

Bring your love to life inside of me
Why don’t you break my heart ’til it moves my hands and feet

For the hopeless and the broken
for  the ones that don’t know that you love them
Bring your love to life inside of me

The generation you’re calling out
living everything we sing about
The revelation right here and now
love beyond the shadow of the doubt
Love that is greater than our own
won’t remain unknown

When you bring your love to life inside of me
Why don’t you break my heart ’til it moves my hands and feet

For the hopeless and the broken
for  the ones that don’t know that you love them
Bring your love to life inside of me

love to come life
love to come life
bring love to life inside me

love to come life
love to come life
bring love to life inside me

love to come life
love to come life
bring love to life inside me

love to come life
love to come life
bring love to life inside me

Bring your love to life inside of me
Why don’t you break my heart ’til it moves my hands and feet

Forthe hopeless and the broken
for  the ones that don’t know that you love them
Bring your love to life inside of me

Bring your love to life inside of me
Why don’t you break my heart ’til it moves my hands and feet

For the hopeless and the broken
for  the ones that don’t know that you love them
Bring your love to life inside of me

love to come life
love to come life
bring love to life inside me

love to come life
love to come life
bring love to life inside me

love to come life
love to come life
bring love to life inside me

love to come life
love to come life
bring love to life inside me

The phrase {break my heart, til it moves my hands and feet} has really impacted me lately. That's my prayer right now! 

The Daily Good

I don't know how I came about these emails, The Daily Good but I'm sure glad I did. Everyday {hence The DAILY Good} I get an email from this "organization" about one-good-thing-a-day. In a world that can be so depressing and sad, it is wonderful to hear good and positive things.

I love finding organizations that are incorporating products and/or services with helping those less fortunate. Probably the first one that comes to mind is Toms Shoes. The company is FABULOUS! {I'm actually wearing a TOMS sweatshirt right now. To be honest I have worn it about EVERYDAY since I got it-a week and a half ago. It's just so soft and cozy.} If you aren't aware of TOMS, it is a one-for-one organization. It started with shoes. For every shoe that was purchased, another shoe was given to someone in need. The company has grown like crazy and has now branched out to helping those who need glasses or eye-surgery.

In one of my Daily Good emails, another company was mentioned, Sevenly. A very simple idea; every week Sevenly works with an organization/charity and designs a shirt for that charity. The t-shirts are $22 and the hoodies are $35 and $7 of that money goes to that weeks charity. Sevenly wants to raise capital and awareness of the world's greatest causes. Last week was autism and this week it is clothing for the children of Bolivia through the organization Clothes4Souls. I have a deep passion for the less fortunate across the ocean, so I bought a hoodie this week=) Sevenly's goal for the children of Bolovia is $5600 or 800 t-shirts/sweatshirts sold. Can you help make it happen this week?!

I highly recommend checking out TOMS Shoes and Sevenly if you are interested in making your purchases count for something!

January: Thailand and Malaria

A couple months ago I went and saw a movie called 58: The Film. 58 is a global initiative to end extreme poverty by living out Isaiah 58.

The Church will end extreme poverty is a clip that is very interesting and shows that progress is happening and ending poverty is within our reach. 

This month 58: Global Impact Tour is focusing on Thailand and malaria. Malaria is a preventable, treatable disease and yet a child dies of malaria every 30 SECONDS! This can happen when malaria is not treated, as cerebral malaria can develop in just two days. Once this happens, a child may slip into a coma and eventually die. With some financial help and some education on malaria and mosquito nets, families in poverty can deal with this potentially fatal disease. All they need is a little compassion and a little help.

Thailand Population: 69,122,234

At Risk of Malaria: 32,000,000

Living in Poverty: 5,600,000

Malaria is the world's leading killer among infectious diseases in many developing countries, including Thailand. Compassion intervenes by providing households at risk with treated mosquito nets, educating family members on malaria prevention, and treating those who suffer from malaria, chagas disease or dengue fever. 

For this project, Compassion International will be distributing insecticide-treated malaria nets in 9 provinces of Thailand highly effected by malaria: Chiang Rai, Mea Hong Son, Prea, Lampang, Surin, Chiang Mai, Ubon, Tak, and Phisanoluk. 

58: The Global Tour  is asking for us to donate, pray and fast for this country and for this issue. The website is awesome and definitely excites me to get involved and to be part of the solution and the hope for these people. For as little as $10, you are purchasing a mosquito net and saving lives. Not a bad thing at all. 

Two Percent of Two Percent

{If charity cost nothing, the world would be full of philanthropists}

Jewish Proverb

I love the book The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns. He has been the President of World Vision since 1998. If you aren't familiar with World Vision, it is a Christian Humanitarian organization helping all over the world. I sponsor two children; a boy from Malawi and a little girl from Armenia with World Vision. My monthly contribution helps these children have food, shelter, clothing, medicine and an education. It is a wonderful way to help those less fortunate and to give someone else hope. I not only help the children but also their families and communities.

One of my favorite chapters in this book is titled Two Percent of Two Percent. Here are some of the things I learned in this chapter:

• You're rich, we're rich, and the Church in America is rich.
• If your income is $25,000 per year, you are wealthier than approx. 90% of the world's population!
• If you make $50,000 per year, you are wealthier than 99% of the world!
• Of the 6.7 billion people on this earth, almost HALF of them live on less than $2/day. 
• 93% of the world's people DON"T own a CAR!
• Our American lifestyles are not normative.....they are grossly distorted compared to the rest of the world. 
• It is important to put the American church in perspective b/c it is the wealthiest community of Christians in the history of Christendom!
• The total income of American churchgoers is $5.2 TRILLION {That's more than five thousand billion dollars}
• It would take just a little over 1% of the income of American Christians to lift the poorest one billion people in the world out of extreme poverty. Stated another way, American Christians, who make up about 5% of the Church worldwide, control half of the global Christian wealth; a lack of money is not our problem. 

Tithing should be 10% of your income. So as the wealthiest nation of Christians in the world, how do we do on tithing our income?

• If we define tithing as giving 10% or more of our pretax income to the church or to nonprofit ministries, only about 5% of American households tithe. 
• If we look at "born again" Christians in America {those who claim to have made a personal commitment to Christ}, the number of tithers improve to 9%.
• For "evangelical Christians", those who claim their faith has the greatest influence on their life and conduct, still only 24% tithe. 

If we aren't tithing 10%, then what is the American Church giving?

• The average giving of American church members in 2005 was just 2.58% of their income, about 75% less than the biblical standard of 10%. 
• Sadly, as our incomes have increased, our giving has significantly declined. In 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, giving averaged 3.3%, 27% more than we gave in 2005. 

Okay so now where does that money go once we give it to the church?

• 2% of it goes to overseas missions of any kind, whether evangelistic or to assist the poor
• The other 98% stays right here, w/in our churches and communities
• Bottom line is that the commitment that American Christians, the wealthiest Christians in ALL HISTORY, are making to the world is just about 2% of 2%--actually about five ten-thousandths of our income. 
• In simpler terms, that amounts to about six pennies per person per day that we give through our churches to the rest of the world-------SIX CENTS! 

What would happen if we ALL paid our tithe--10% of our incomes instead of the 2.5% we actually give......it is amazing......we would have an extra $168 BILLION to spend in funding the work of the Church worldwide!

To put this in perspective:

• $705 billion--amount Americans spend on entertainment and recreation
• $179 billion--amount spent by teenagers ages 12-17 {2006}
• $65 billion---amount we spend on jewelry {2008}
• $58 billion---amount spent on state lottery tickets {2007}
• $39.5 billion-total U.S. government foreign assistance budget for the WORLD
• $31 billion---amount spent on pets {2003}
• $13 billion---amount spent by Americans on cosmetic surgery {2007}
• $5 billion---total overseas ministries income to 700 Protestant mission agencies, including denominational, interdenominational, and independent agencies{2005}

If every American churchgoer tithed, we could literally change the world!

• $65 billion {less than 40% of the extra $168 billion}--could eliminate the most extreme poverty on the planet for more than a billion people
• Universal primary education for children would cost just $6 billion
• The cost to bring clean H20 to most of the world's poor, an estimated $9 billion
• Basic health and nutrition for everyone in the world, $13 billion

This next part I'm going to write really excites me and encourages me. I love it. 

"Imagine how stunning it would be to the watching world for American Christians to give so generously that it:

• brought an end to world hunger;
• solved the clean water crisis;
• provided universal access to drugs and medical care for the millions suffering from AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis;
• virtually eliminated the more than 26,000 daily child deaths;
• guaranteed education for all the world's children;
• provided a safety net for the world's tens of millions of orphans.

Think about the statement it would make if American Christian citizens stepped up and gave more than all of the governments of the world combined b/c they took Jesus seriously when He said to love our neighbors as ourselves. Terrorists might have a harder time recruiting young men to attack a nation so compassionate. Other wealthy nations might be ashamed--or inspired to follow our example. Adherents of other religions would surely wonder what motivates the Christians to be so loving and generous. The global social revolution brought forth by the body of Christ would be on the lips of every citizen in the world and in the pages of every newspaper--in a good way.  The world would see the whole gospel--the good news of the kingdom of God--not just spoken but demonstrated, by people whose faith is not devoid of deeds but defined by love and backed up with action. His kingdom come, His will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven. This was the whole gospel that Jesus proclaimed in Luke 4, and if we would embrace it, it would literally change everything."

{The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.}

Luke 4:18-19

Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:16

Want to learn more about World Vision or Child Sponsorship? Go to www.worldvision.org

31 Days of Christmas Giving

Looking for a different way to give this Christmas? Check out Glamour's 31 Days of Giving. Some organizations I am familiar with (Krochet Kids International and Tom's) and some I am not. But you can click on the link and check it out for yourself. Most of the "gifts" are very reasonable and can make a huge impact in someone's life or an animals.

Donate on December 1

Give life-saving meds. $5 to faceaids.org will give an HIV-positive pregnant woman in Rwanda vital drugs to help prevent transmission of the virus to her baby.

 Donate on December 2

Save a pet. A gift of $50 to animaladvocatesalliance.org bails a dog or cat out of a high-kill shelter and provides vet care and medicine to help it get healthy for adoption.

Donate on December 3

Teach Gen Next. A full 67 million children worldwide aren’t attending elementary classes today. Just $25 to pencilsofpromise.org sends one child to a new school in a developing country for 78 days; $118 covers an entire year.

Donate on December 4

Give the jobless a leg up—with a pair of slacks or other office clothes your guy is no longer wearing. Careergear.org coaches down-on-their-luck men on how to land a job and loans them the attire to ace the interview.

Donate on December 5

Donate your old cell phone to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ncadv.org), which will refurbish and sell it, then use the proceeds to get survivors back on their feet

Donate on December 6

Send a teddy bear to the child of a deployed marine. For $25, jonathancollins.org gives a plush toy with a voice message recorded by the parent, which will play when the paw is pressed.

Donate on December 7

Pick up the grocery tab for a senior. Some 3.5 million Americans over age 50 don’t have enough to eat; $8 to drivetoendhunger.org feeds one of them healthy meals for a day.

Donate on December 8

Protect newborns in India. $50 helps keep nine babies alive with a genius incubatorlike invention. Go to embraceglobal.org.

Donate on December 9

Help women get free mammograms. Just click the pink button at thebreastcancersite.com. Last year they funded a whopping 2,112 screenings for needy American women.

Donate on December 10

Provide clean H20. Your gift of $30 to wellsbringhope.org gives one villager in West Africa access to safe water and good sanitation for more than 30 years, drastically reducing child mortality.

Donate on December 11

Inspire the next Taylor Swift. Fendermusicfoundation.org uses your $50 to give a guitar to a struggling music program, letting 20 kids play through the school year.

Donate on December 12

Play fairy godmother to a teenage girl who can’t afford a prom dress. Donate the old gown gathering dust in your closet (or any special-occasion accessories) to princessproject.org.

Donate on December 13

Shop for art’s sake. Heart of Haiti gifts ($10 to $120) at macys.com provide steady work for many Haitians.

Photo: Macy's/Hearts of Haiti

Donate on December 14

Start a reading chain. Guatemala has the highest illiteracy rate in Central America; $10 to readingvillage.org helps pay school fees for rural teen leaders, who in turn teach younger children to read

Donate on December 15

Clear the air. An estimated 20 million Americans suffer from debilitating asthma, and dirty air can trigger attacks. Any donation to cleartheair.edf.org defends our breathing supply from polluters.

Donate on December 16

Coupon for a cause. Here’s a win-win: At causeon.com you get deals on everything from scrapbooks to luxurious spa services, and 20 percent of the site’s proceeds goes to a variety of charities in your community.

onate on December 17

Help shape a new Egypt. Check out Glamour Women of the Year Fund winner Esraa Fattah on page 210. A gift to vitalvoices.org will support the Egyptian women who have fought so hard for change, and give them a voice in their country’s future.

Donate on December 18

Make a difference in your zip code. Volunteermatch.org connects you with ways to improve your neighborhood, like working at a food bank, clowning around with seniors and coaching a girls’ soccer team.

Donate on December 19

Prevent blindness. Buy Toms glasses ($135 and up, toms.com) and give someone in Asia sight-saving treatment.

Photo: Toms

Donate on December 20

Pass on your copy of Twilight and other faves to globalliteracyproject.org, which will get books to deprived youth, helping them learn to read.

Donate on December 21

Put sexual abusers behind bars. Your donation to equalitynow.org helps provide legal support, counseling and job training to victims pursuing cases against their assailants around the world

Donate on December 22

Say “hats off” to ending poverty. Cute crocheted caps for $35 and under keep women in Uganda working and educated. Visit krochetkids.org.

Photo: Krochet Kids

Donate on December 23

Get girls up to speed. Your $50 gift to afghaninstituteoflearning.org will allow two Afghan girls to take computer lessons for six months.

Donate on December 24

Stop bullying—for good. Laura and Kirk Smalley lost their tormented son, Ty, 11, to suicide; $25 dollars to standforthesilent.org helps them speak to student groups and prevent more deaths.

Donate on December 25

Preserve our precious oceans. Save half a mile from overfishing and pollution with a $38 gift to conservation.org.

Donate on December 26

Pay a student’s bus fare. $40 to Olivia Wilde’s artistsforpeaceandjustice.org gets a child from the slums of Haiti to a new school for two months.

Donate on December 27

Buy a counseling session for a soldier returning home after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan with your $17 donation to giveanhour.org.

Donate on December 28

Care for a chimp orphaned or harmed by hunters or pet sellers. Just $10 to janegoodall.org buys 22 pounds of food at the renowned primatologist’s clinic in the Republic of Congo.

Donate on December 29

Help women in war-torn countries start a business: $25 buys one woman a sewing kit so she can earn a living as a tailor. Go to womenforwomen.org

Donate on December 30

Aid a woman while stopping deforestation. $2 to greenbeltmovement.org, started by the late Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, pays a disadvantaged gal in Kenya to plant a tree.

Donate on December 31

Get a salad on the table and an at-risk teen on a healthy path. For $25, whyhunger.org helps needy kids grow produce, both for their family’s fridge and to sell at farmers’ markets.

The Gift of Speaking Out

I am the oldest of three children and very outspoken. It could be be/c I'm the oldest or be/c I'm a gemini or another reason....that I'm so outspoken. 


To live in a country that enables free speech and for everyone is an amazing blessing. When we (women) see problems or issues we can speak up and voice our opinion. When we don't agree with what we are told, we can disagree. When we see injustices, we can say so. When we are abused, raped or violated we can go for help and be protected. We can go to the doctor and have our babies in hospitals. We can run for government positions and vote. We can run huge companies and voice our ideas. In America we have the freedom to succeed and the ability to advocate for ourselves. This is not true for the whole world. 


Camfed is an organization that educates and empowers girls and women to succeed and live a good life. Camfed recently filmed a documentary called Where the Water Meets the Sky. 


"Camfed's film Where the Water Meets the Sky, which chronicles the journey of a group of women in a remote region of northern Zambia who learn filmmaking as a way to speak out about the most pressing issues in their lives. Written by Jordan Roberts (March of the Penguins) and narrated by Academy Award®-winner Morgan Freeman, the film has reached audiences in 82 countries around the globe, from South Korea to Croatiato Venezuela." 


Here's  the link to see when and what channel this film will be on. 

Here's a link to see a preview of the documentary. 

P-E-A-C-E

I wanted to post a video here but I'm not having any luck so here's the link and the blog I read it from and the CNN article that started the blog post.

The article talks about Obama sending 100 troops to Africa to hunt down the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony. The man is horrible and vile and scary. He kidnaps C-H-I-L-D-R-E-N and makes them commit atrocities. Kony uses these children as his soldiers and when they die he just kidnaps more of them. He has displaced more than 380,000 people in the areas of Uganda, Sudan, Central African Republic and Dem. Rep of Congo.

In the video a woman says since peace was signed, they have never experienced peace. This statement got me. Peace is truly a gift that I think everyone wants but not a lot have. I believe here in the U.S. we have peace. When I read about other countries and what they face everyday, we can't compare. I'm not stupid or naive to think that we don't have trouble here. I know we have rapes, murder, suicide, gangs, violence, and so on. But we don't have war in our own country. We don't have American's causing war within our own country. We don't have American's committing atrocities like those that are happening in Africa. We aren't being displaced by soldiers looting or burning down our homes or stealing our food or kidnapping our children. Compared to Africa we have peace.

I'm not knowledgeable in politics and policy and war and I won't claim to have all the answers. However right now with the information I do have, I believe a country as powerful and wealthy as we are should help those countries who are struggling big time. We are blessed beyond belief when you compare what we have with the rest of the world and I believe we do have a responsibility to help those suffering. In my opinion the U.S. was built with faith in God and as long as we are doing what is right, God will help us and bless us. I know our country is in need of help but I believe that the same rule that apply to us individually apply to us as a country and that would be.....
James 2:15-17 (New International Version)
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.


Since I am a Christian I know my opinions will probably differ than those who are not. All I ask is that before you start saying we should look out for "number 1" or "me" read up on Africa, India, and Latin American countries. Life in these countries is a daily struggle to feed their families, find clean H2O, send their children to school, make enough money to survive and much more.

Some Hope At Last

"Women might just have something to contribute to civilization other than their vaginas." Christopher Buckley, Florence of Arabia

In my last post I stopped when Meena decided to flee the brothel to save her life. She abandoned her chlidren and traveled by train for several hours to Forbesgunge. Unfortunately, someone told Ainul's son, Manooj of her whereabouts and he came to beat her up. He however didn't want her causing trouble in his brothel so he told her she could live on her own but she had to prostitute herself and give him the money. Meena agreed, because she didn't know how she'd survive otherwise.

Meena never gave him as much money as he'd like when he came to collect from her and so he beat her. One day when he was beating her furiously with a belt a respectable business man intervened. "You're already pimping her, you're already taking her lifeblood. Why beat her to death as well?"

This was a big deal for Meena. She was a woman scorned by society and he was a pharmacist (named Kuduz). It was startling to have anyone speak up for her. For a minute think about this happening here in the U.S. You're walking down the street and you see a man push a woman down on the street and he starts beating her with his belt. How many people would just walk by like it was okay? Who wouldn't say anything or at least call the police? We don't let things like this happen in our society. It's not okay but in India for women of lower class no one blinks an eye. Here it wouldn't matter who the woman was, black, white, asian, rich, poor, we'd say something. AND our police wouldn't look the other way. We have equal rights here. (Well at least more than undeveloped countries).

Manooj backs off and Kuduz helps Meena up. They end up building a great relationship and he offers to marry her. She is thrilled. Manooj however is not thrilled. He offers Kuduz 100,000 rupees ($2500) to give Meena up--a sum that perhaps reflected his concern that she might use her new respectability as a married woman to cause trouble for the brothel. Kuduz wasn't interested.

Meena and Kuduz marry and have two daughters and then Meena goes back to her native village to find her parents. Neighbors tell her that her mom cried constantly after she disappeared, then had gone mad and died--but her dad was stunned and thrilled to see his daughter resurrected.

Life was much better for Meena but she of course misses her first two children. She starts traveling back to her old brothel to stand outside and plead for Naina and Vivek. It didn't work. Ainul and Manooj didn't let Meena in the brothel; they whipped her and drove her away. The police were no help. They wouldn't even listen to her. The brothel owners not only threatened to kill her, they also threatened to kidnap her two daughters with Kuduz and sell them to the brothel. Once a couple gangsters showed up at Meena's house in Forbesgunge to steal the two little girls, but Kuduz grabbed a knife and warned: "If you even try to steal them, I'll cut you into pieces."

Meena was terrified for her girls but she couldn't forget her daughter Naina. She was approaching puberty  and would be on the market soon. What could she do?

To Be Continued........