Shelter for Mother and Baby

"My father died when I was a baby and my mother had no money to take care of me. When I was 10 years old, my mother sold me for $100. My adopted mother did not love me. She made me work as her domestic servant until I was 13 and then she forced me to work at a night club. I had to have sex with many men and give my adopted mother the money. I had my first baby at 15 years old, but my adopted mother took my baby to Vietnam, and forced me to continue to work. When I was 17, she made me marry a man who had many other wives. I had one more baby to him, but his mother also took the baby from me. I do not know where she is now. My husband was taken to jail just after the baby was born. I continued to work at the night club because I didn't know what else to do. When I was 22, my friend was staying with me and the police came to arrest us. We were taken to jail. We did not know why we were there or how long we would be there.

After I had been in jail for 7 months, the guards could see that I was very pregnant. They let me out of jail to have my baby, but then I had nowhere to go. I had no home. I had no family. I had no money for food or to look after my baby. I was sleeping outside near the house of a lady that was kind to me. I was still sick and bleeding a lot from giving birth to my baby, but I had no money for medicine. At night, the men in the village harassed me when they were drunk and on ice, and I was very worried about the safety of my baby. I could not care for him, and I began to think he would have a better life if I gave him away to another family.

I met Voice when they were visiting another family. I asked them for help. They listened to my story and wanted to help me. They have helped me to buy medicine and food. They have helped me to pay rent while I recover from giving birth. They have said they will help me find a job when I am ready. Now I am staying in a house near the kind woman that I like. My baby can sleep on a mattress out of the rain. I love my baby very much. I hope that I can give him a better life than I have had. He is only 3 months old and he can roll over and he smiles and laughs all the time. I hope I can make him smile forever."