dear survivors, friends and others,

yesterday a survivor taught me a very important thing - he opened my eyes so much wider!
due to my life, i have spent quite a lot of time in india and also in tanzania.
in india as well as in tanzania it happened that i passed police stations or jail trucks full of people and i saw kids in there. i found that wrong. what can kids possibly do to deserve to be in jail trucks or captured by the police. i am talking about two kids in india and five kids in tanzania. the two in india at the same time, he five in tanzania all individually, means not at the same time.

well in all cases i went up to the police people and asked them why the kid/s were in there and in all cases they answered me that they were caught begging on the road and that is against the law. i always asked what they will do to them and i was always told that they stay in jail for some time and then they can go again.

well, i found it not human in any way that kids are in jail and especially not, because they were always together with adult men.

in all cases i talked those kids OUT of the police. this means that i never paid even one cent for anyone of them, no corruption. i just always made a fuzz. a white woman (my stupid skin color helped me a lot) shouting a lot at the police people. in all cases i got the kids.

there is pritesh and paresh from india, now living here in the neighborhood in italy. they were adopted and one of them is at the school where i am teaching. they have a good family.
the five from tanzania stayed in tanzania (i used to live there with my family before). they came one by one. the first two i simply took home, but i was not bad enough to send them back on the road, so i ended up building a house for them (that is really cheap in tanzania, that time i paid almost 5000 euros, that time still italian lire).
one girl has a small tailor business and is still staying at home. one girl is married and has a baby boy, she is a kindergarten nanny. one boy is about 10 and goes to school. one boy is finishing secondary school next year and masonga, the oldest one, is finishing his studies in munich this semester and he is then a doctor, will go back to tanzania and help his own people.

I NEVER KNEW WHAT I ACTUALLY SAVED THEM FROM! i really believed what the police said, that they took them off the roads and they would let them go again. yesterday a survivor taught me, what i actually saved them from.
i am still hoping, the survivor is not right, for the sake of all the kids this happens to every day, but i did get a few of them out, by being stupid and just by chance.

ela

!!!!!!!!!!ela!!!!!!!!!!
standing ovation for you!

Brava! Brava! Brava! Brava! Brava! Brava! Brava! Brava!
Brava! Brava! Brava! Brava! Brava! Brava! Brava! Brava!

ela you have every right to feel great today ... and every day!

Thank you for saving the lives of seven children.

I loooove this!!!

(((Ela)))

Wow Ela, you are our hero, you are so inspiring !
Here is your standing ovation:

http://www.malesurvivor.org/board/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=300757&page=5

(((((Ela))))) !

PS. I'm adding this thread to my list of the most inspiring posts!

HI Ela.

Bravo Bravisima, you are a hero. To have radically changed the lives of those children, you deserve a medal.

I live in Africa and I can tell you that you did save those children from a horrible fate.

Hold your head high, and hug and love your children, knowing that you are a Hero.

Heal well
Martin

dear martin,

now this is important for me, that you also say that what the survivor taught me is true. this is just crazy and really bad for all these kids. i will definately go to tanzania and india again and also other countries, but this time i will purposely go and check out police stations for kids. there is no big deal in asking for the way in there. and usually the jailed kids are right there for everyone to be seen, just like the other people in those "cages". and i also hope the right people read this post and just do the same thing, for GOOD REASONS!

ela

You are an amazing person.

I second that

Mike

you guys should stop praising me, i didnt even know what i was doing, remember! i had to hear that first from people who know - survivors.

thank you all!
ela