Darbie Angell: Our Safe House

The town of Daulatdia is home to over 2,000 prostitutes, some as young as 10-years-old. It is also home to 5,000 orphans that are regularly being pulled into this life.  It is a vicious cycle.  From birth, this is the only life the girls grow up knowing, and the young boys grow up to become pimps.  The cycle just continues, and it is hard to break.  

While I was traveling in Bangladesh, visiting our factory and the 3,000 women we employ there, I heard of one Safe House in Daulatdia that supports girls who want to change their future.  They invited us to visit, and as we pulled up, a rush came over me.  Never in my life have I felt such a strong calling. This is where I was supposed to be. Our Safe House. 

The journey to get there wasn't easy in itself.  Before the trip, I was told NO over and over again by the Bangladeshi Government. I was told no by my team on the ground in Bangladesh. Everyone said that it wasn't safe to journey where I wanted to go, but my heart kept saying "you must."  You MUST push forward and see these girls in need. So...we did... 

And can I tell you what I found? Girls -  girls as young as 5-years-old, who made the choice to live a different life. Girls who left their families to seek solace from their circumstances. Girls who, after everything they had witnessed and experienced, were smiling up at me. Tell me that isn't strength!

I can't tell you the emotions that came over me.  I fought to hold back tears just thinking of the fight that they had in them to live a different life and the strength that it took to be in their shoes.

You see, the girls in this video have made the choice at their young ages to leave the only family that they'd ever known to come into our home. Our safe house gives them not only protection from their past, but also a beautiful home with their own beds in pink rooms. A home that offers them an education and a chance to D A R E to D R E A M their biggest dreams!

The world spoke and told them "you can't," but they listened to me and heard "you must." My question to you is, who will you listen to?  

We ask that you partner with us in supporting these young women in Daulatdia. Every dollar raised here goes straight to funding the Safe House and to giving these girls protection, a home, nourishment, and an education so that they can continue to D R E A M  B I G. 

Thank you for your support and for impacting the world with us! W E  M U S T!!