Sira's Story - From Silence to Song

Sira stood in front of the new girls who had arrived at Rapha’s Survivor Care Campus and said to them, “You may not believe me, but you are safe. You are cared for. When I first came I was scared, I didn’t trust the people here, but you are safe.”  

Sira’s Arrival

Sira was fifteen years old when she escaped her trafficker and came to one of Rapha’s Survivor Care Campuses. She was safe, but she neither knew it nor believed it. She was angry and withdrew from the staff and other girls. The girls who had been at Rapha for a little longer tried to reach out to her, to assure Sira that she was in a good place with good people who wanted to help, but Sira didn’t believe them. She had no interest in making friends with the other girls; it had been another girl that she called a friend who convinced her to trust the man who was her trafficker. 

She had been deceived in the past with similar phrases: “Just give him a chance…. he wants to help you make money.” But her “friend” left her as soon as Sira was locked inside the trafficker's place of business. Sira knew it was safer to trust no one. 

In her therapy sessions Sira sat with her arms crossed, only looking up at her counselor to show in the sternness on her face that she had no intention of speaking. Sira figured talking about what had happened wouldn’t help, and had no desire to talk about the things that were done to her. She lay in her bed at night, “safe” in this new place, but she scoffed at the idea of safety. She was not safe. She never would be. Her trafficker had promised her that.

The Turning Point

One day when she was called for a counseling session, Sira was surprised that her lawyer was in the room already. He informed Sira that her trafficker had been charged and was currently in jail awaiting trial. Her lawyer and counselor explained that Sira would remain safely at Rapha until her case was completed and that she would stay in the program as long as she and her case management team felt that it was necessary. Sira sat and listened to a picture of her future being explained, a future she believed she could never have. As she listened, the hard shell she had constructed around herself began to crack. 

Her counselors and social workers noticed her demeanor begin to change as she began to believe that she was safe. She began to eat lunch with the other girls. For the first time, she participated in art, music, and free time. She especially loved singing with her friends in music therapy. She even started paying attention in school because she realized that there may be a real future for her. And if someone was nearby and was listening closely, they would even hear her laugh.

Empowering Other Survivors

When Sira first arrived at Rapha’s Survivor Care Campus, she had felt cornered and alone. She didn’t believe anyone there had her best interest at heart because no one ever had. Sira made sure they all knew she wasn’t naive and wouldn’t “fall for their kindness.” Instead, she would look out for herself and her own interests. She had always done that and being at Rapha wasn’t going to change that. Sira was prepared to fight, but she wasn’t prepared for anyone to fight alongside her, to fight for her.

Not long ago, Sira was asked to share her experience with some of the new girls at Rapha. She told them how scared she had been when she first came, how convinced she had been that these people could not be trusted, how sure she had been that her trafficker would wiggle out of the charge, find her, and make her pay. All of the eyes around the room were focused on her. They understood her, and she understood them in ways no one else could. 

“You may not believe me, but you are safe. You are cared for. When I first came I was scared, I didn’t trust the people here, but you are safe. I see a future for myself that I never imagined was possible. You can have that too. You just have to choose to believe me a little bit. The people here will prove the rest to you.”

You Can Take Action

You can provide the counseling and legal advocacy necessary for girls like Sira by becoming a Survivor Care Partner today. Take action to bring healing, hope, and freedom to one child, one family, and one community at a time.