What would be the most precious moment in your life? For Dan, it was her reunion with her mother in Vietnam after 17 years of being trafficked in China.
Dan’s father died when she was young and her mother had to work hard to make ends meet for her family. So, Dan always tried to find more work to help out her mother.
Knowing Dan’s families’ struggles their neighbour offered to help, but instead made an agreement with a broker to devise a trap to trick 15-year-old Dan into being trafficked to China. The neighbour promised Dan a part-time job close to home with a high salary, which would ensure a sustainable living for her family. Trusting the kindness of her neighbour, Dan agreed to accept this offer with the thought that this could decrease the burden on her mother.
When she showed up at her new workplace, she was immediately trapped in a dark room, blindfolded and secretly taken off in a car. When the blindfold was taken off, Dan found herself in a brothel in China. Here, the owner forced her to learn how to massage and work as a prostitute to earn money for the brothel.
Every time Dan said no or felt too tired to serve customers, the owner beat as punishment for misbehaving. One time, when the trafficker caught Dan attempting to escape, they tortured her by using a hammer to break her kneecap so that she was no longer able to run away. After this, Dan was paralysed for three months and could barely walk.
However, despite the severe pain, Dan remained strong and kept trying to escape. Finally, after the fifth attempt, Dan managed to trek across a forest and stream to reach the Vietnamese border. After countless days of walking, Dan was rescued by the local authorities and taken to a Women’s Union. From there, the Women’s Union referred Dan to Hagar.
With support from Hagar, Dan learned how to manage her emotions and started to process what had happened through specialised trauma-informed counselling. Hagar also provided her with medical support to help her heal from the severe injuries. Once Dan had healed and recovered, she was safely reintegrated with her family and reunited with her mother! Then, through Hagar’s Economic Empowerment program, Dan and her family received husbandry support to enable them to raise chickens and gain economic capital.
Dan’s mother happily shared:
“This is my best day. Seeing those chickens makes me overjoyed and all my fear or doubt has completely disappeared. I just want to send my sincere thanks to Hagar. Dan and I are so lucky to have Hagar’s support. I can never thank you enough.”
Disclaimer: Hagar pursues the highest degree of care and protection for each of its clients. To protect the identity of our clients, names have been changed and images do not necessarily represent the individual profiled.
