Our mission is to break the cycle of poverty and exploitation,
by providing education - and a full range of services that support education - to survivors and the most vulnerable girls. John and Sarah are married and together have built MBSN from the ground up using their personal savings and dedicated community of friends. Sarah learned about the scope of human trafficking when she saw the film
“The Day My God Died’ by Andrew Levine, at the Tribeca Film Festival, and felt compelled to take action. A year later, John left his 17 year career in investment banking to help her launch The Emancipation Network. According to Sarah "I write and record music for TV, and in 2002, a song I had written was used as the title song in a film (‘Nola’). When I looked at the film listings and saw ‘The Day My God Died’, a documentary about child s*x trafficking between Nepal and India, I did not want to see it. I thought I already knew all about the issue - wrong! I thought the film would be sad and depressing, and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it - wrong again. Although the film was deeply disturbing, it was anything but depressing! In fact, the film was incredibly inspiring, in that it profiled survivors who had turned the tables – they were active in an Underground Railroad taking rescue agencies and police back into the brothels to rescue other kids, or stopping every car at border stations between Nepal and India, and with the help of border police, stopping trafficking situations in progress. They were telling others, as part of large-scale public awareness campaigns in villages where girls were reported missing. This film showed people who were standing up against slavery, and putting their lives on the line to fight it – with limited resources, with emotional and physical scars from years of abuse. If they could do it, I felt that I had to find a way to support them. With all the resources we have in the US, surely there was something we could do to help break the chain of slavery. I met my husband John for lunch later that day, and couldn’t wait to tell him. “I just saw a film that is going to change my life!” I guess I should have said ‘our lives’ because as it turned out, fighting slavery has become a family business. I started by contacting Maiti Nepal, one of the anti-trafficking organizations featured in the film They put me in touch with Friends of Maiti Nepal in Boston. Directors Joe and Brigitte Collins were kind enough to let me help out for a year. Then Joe and Brigitte invited me to join them on a visit to Maiti Nepal in Kathmandu. It was during this visit that I got the idea for selling handicrafts as a way to fight trafficking and empower survivors. We had asked the founder of Maiti Nepal, Anuradha Koirala, what kind of help she needed the most. She suggested working on self-sufficiency for the older survivors. Many had been living at Maiti’s shelter for some years, and formal education was not an option for some, because they were 16 years old or older, and had never even gone to kindergarten. Maiti Nepal was operating an informal literacy program for these girls, which included therapeutic arts, such as beadwork and sewing. We brainstormed about ways to help the girls become economically independent – it is difficult because they are stigmatized by Nepali society as 'bad girls' and prostitutes. Some have HIV/AIDS leading to further discrimination. The next day, during a tour of the shelter, we came upon a small room piled high with sparkly purses and beaded jewelry which were being made as part of the informal education program. Well, it was obvious what to do! I brought a few hundred dollars of samples home and showed them to all my friends and family. My husband John came up with the idea of selling the products at home parties, because this would also allow us to raise awareness about human trafficking. One year after my first visit to Nepal, we imported our first shipment of products made by survivors and high risk girls from 4 shelters in Nepal, Thailand and Cambodia. We funded our first purchase with our own contributions, and the contributions of a few concerned friends. Today we partner with 18 anti-trafficking shelters in 9 countries around the world. That first year was a whirlwind of activity, because I was the only employee and worked as a full-time volunteer. Then both of us worked as full time volunteers for another two years, before securing a foundation grant to pay our modest salaries. As the program has grown, more and more people have come on board to help, and with everyone’s help, our dreams for survivors are coming true. Home Awareness parties and community events have been hosted by volunteers in every state, and larger scale fundraisers and product sales have been hosted by colleges, schools, women's groups, and places of worship. We are lucky to partner with fantastic rescue shelters in 7 countries, and with US abolition groups such as Polaris and Free the Slaves, among others. John quit his job in finance in 2006, after almost 20 years on "Wall Street", to help run our rapidly growing social enterprise. Today, our lives are as busy and crazy as ever, but we are both so grateful to be able to help our courageous and inspiring survivors, and to be part of a growing worldwide Abolition movement. This is the legacy of hope that we want to leave for our children"..
