When Aanya* was 12 years old and had lost both parents, an uncle sold her into the sex trade in Mumbai for 10,000 rupees. 

Twenty two years later she is still there and her number one priority is to make sure that none of her three daughters ends up in the same profession.  For this reason she has sent the eldest, who is now 14, back to her own home village.  Aanya must pay her relatives to look after the girl and to do so she continues to earn money the only way she ever knew. 

The younger girls, aged 11 and five, remain with their mother in the red light district.  Each day they go to school and then to Cornerstone, a Christian ministry supported by Blythswood Care to bring the gospel to women and children in this sector of India’s biggest city.

There they receive a healthy cooked meal, extra tuition with their lessons, and a training in life skills and social awareness designed to keep them safe in the dangerous environment in which they are growing up. 

“Aanya knows the dangers of this area and would like to take her girls back to the village,” says Asmita Vadavana who runs Cornerstone.   “But she has nowhere to stay.  None of her relatives will take her in because she has been working in the sex trade.  She is trying to save money to get a house of her own.

“With your support we can make sure that families stay together, that the children have access to better opportunities and that they can grow up in a safe and healthy environment.”

*Not her real name