Tanya McGinnity

Not sure if I’m particularly sensitive these days (or maybe that’s what a wedding and a job loss in the same month will do to a girl) but last night I was filled with such overwhelming feelings for how there are some truly exceptional people in the world.

While going through my growing RSS folders, I came across a blog post from the Shambhala Sun (a very smart Buddhist oriented publication), which spoke of a session at the recent TEDIndia conference given by Sunitha Krishnan, the founder of Prajwala India. Prajwala is an non-governmental organization in Hyderabad, India, opposed to forced prostitution and sex trafficking and focuses its energies on prevention, readaptation, rehabilitation and healing.

Below is a recount by author, teacher and translator Tyler Dewar of what occurred after the talk that Sunitha Krishnan had given and the remarkable compassion that snowballed throughtout the community.

Sunitha Krishnan brought the house down in Mysore today. And by that, I mean that she broke hearts and moved people to action. The audience listened painfully to some of the stories of the more than 3,200 girls she has rescued, girls who had endured unimaginable torture and yet, somehow, nevertheless found the will to heal and thrive. She spoke of the need for everyone to overcome silence about the phenomenon of human trafficking, the modern form of slavery, and for us not only to offer our love and compassion to its victims, but to be willing to accept them in our communities. She admitted that rescuing girls is never a very safe business, sharing that she can no longer hear out of her right ear, and that she has been beaten up during interventions more than a dozen times. Her strong voice and powerful body language ensured that no one could claim to have misunderstood her points.

During her post-presentation interview with TEDIndia’s co-host, Lakshmi Pratury, Ms. Krishnan had just finished describing a wish for Prajwala to have permanent property to establish its headquarters in India (due to social stigmatization, Prajwala is charged extraordinarily high rent for office and work space). At that moment, a woman (whose name I will try to report here when I find it) called out from the audience, “Excuse me. I’d like to give ten thousand [US] dollars. Could I please have eight other hands of people who will also give ten thousand dollars?” Several hands sprung to the air within seconds. Ms. Pratury, later in the day, would also report that Google had pledged to offer employment to some of Ms. Krishnan’s rescuees, and that at least $100,000 in donations to Prajwala had been pledged.

To read the full article, visit the Shambhala Sun blog.