A Glimpse of Modern Trafficking
I am surprised when I think about my life journey in the last few years. Now it feels as though those years, their ups and downs, were led by someone other than me. I was born in Jalpaigudi district of India. My ancestors were originally Nepali, however they had been living in this place in India for years and years. So, although I am legally an Indian, my family and I can speak Nepali. Growing up, I didn't realize that people would take advantage of those who were of Nepali origin.
I was studying at class 6 in school when a woman came to our village to tell us of lots of opportunities for getting good jobs and big earnings. She prepared us for the jobs. There were 6 women together with me. At first I was eager to go but then my friends cautioned me not to go. I had nearly decided to cancel, but the agent talked again with my mother. My mother convinced me to go.
Finally, I decided to go to work in Kuwait. I had paid 15,000 IC to the agent. She said that she had to spend 15,000 in order to send me. She arranged for a passport for me. I didn't pay much attention at first, but then I found out that my name, address and all my information was not true. In the passport it was written that I am from Tanahu district of Nepal, but in reality I don't even have a citizenship card from Nepal. My name and caste also were listed differently.
In this false way I was taken to Delhi Airport of India in February 2010. We (there were 6 girls/women with me) were taken to Delhi in a train. In Delhi we were kept in a room for 3 months. Then in May 2010 we were taken to Kuwait. There again we were kept in an agent's room for 2 days. Then I was sent to work in a house. I worked as a domestic worker. I worked there for 2 months. There was too much work; I could not continue. So I went to the manpower office to complain about the heavy workload. The manpower office sent me to a different company. The work was easy there for 8 months, but the company didn't give me my salary. They gave me only 2 months salary. Even Manpower didn't try to help me to get my salary. I decided not to stay in Kuwait. I asked the agent to send me back to my country. I was thinking they would send me to my own country, India. Instead, unfortunately, I was sent to Nepal.
I had never been to Nepal before. So I was completely shocked when I arrived there. I didn't know what to do or where to go. I didn't have any relatives and I didn't know any places in Kathmandu or Nepal. Another woman had returned with me from Kuwait. I requested that she take me to her home. She was from a village near Kathmandu. We hired a taxi and went to her home. I had to pay the taxi 3,000 to reach her home. On the way to her home I asked the taxi driver to find me some work. He gave me his phone number and told me that he would try to find work for me. I stayed in the house of that woman for 4 days and called the same taxi driver. On the phone he told me that he had found a job for me. I went to Kathmandu to meet him.
He took me to work in a restaurant. I had to work there as a waitress. In the beginning I was ready to work there, but when I started to work I really didn't like the work. The work in the cabin restaurant was not the kind of work I wanted to do. Also, the owner never paid me. So I asked a friend working in the same restaurant to find me another job. She suggested that I run away from there. Together, we ran away. She kept me in a guest house for 2 nights. Then she found me a job back in the same kind of restaurant. I was confused and didn't know what to do or where to go.
While in this situation I suddenly met a social worker of an organization. She told me to go with her to the shelter; the organization provided shelter and support to girls/women like me. I thought it was the best opportunity for me, so I went to that organization. At first I lied about my home and my identity. After staying there for a month I found that the people in that organization are very good to me and really cared for me. So then one day I told them my whole story.
They were ready to provide me any kind of support that I needed. But I was yearning to go back to my own home. Because of their help, I had success in contacting my family. I am planning to go back to Jalpigudi very soon.
Now I am happy to return home after many hard struggles. I learned from that organization that I was trafficked - taken from my home and used in many different ways. I also learned about my duplicate passports, about the process of luring the girls/women in the name of work from once place to another, and why I was sent to Nepal instead of India. Now I am planning to continue my study about this by going back to my own village. I will teach other girls/women like me how to be safe from such villains.
