 Many of you might remember Mehak because you donated towards a painting we had done of her last year. Mehak was kidnapped and forced to marry a much older man, and when we finally found her was pregnant with his child and enduring constant abuse. We were able to legally get her removed from the home and she has since given birth to the baby and is flourishing with her mother and sisters! Here she is today (in the white head covering) with Ben.
Your support is often a matter of life or death and we are so grateful. You can help support more amazing women like Mehak by clicking here: Let's acknowledge that 2020 has been quite a year—one that none of us saw coming! For these reasons, we are all the more humbled and grateful for the generosity and support we’ve been able to provide because of people like you. Since we had to cancel all of our fundraising events early on, we felt deep concern for the people we are supporting in the Middle East and Asia as they faced the same pandemic as us, only on top of extreme poverty, threat, and slavery. But, while navigating a global pandemic, economic shut downs, isolation and grief, you showed up for them and offered yourself to elevate humanity and bring collective good. We ended up reaching our goals and able to do far more than we thought possible! That’s why you are invited to zoom out and look at a bigger picture—a hope-filled one. A picture of what you have accomplished by using your privilege and resources to participate with us in offering real, tangible hope to real, tangible people. Below are some of the highlights of the year, some of the good that has been accomplished in the midst of everything else. Take a look and celebrate some of the ways you helped bring hope into a hard, hard year. From all of us at All People Free, thank you so much for being in this with us. It means everything. Education:
Even with interruptions in schooling due to Covid-19 lockdowns, we were able to make progress through our primary and trade schools:
Covid-19: During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, we have been able to partner with our sewing students, teachers, and other professionals to bring aid to families in crisis:
Anna’s House: With your help, we were able to get Anna's House—our first restoration home—up and running:
 At the beginning of 2014, I told my parents that I no longer wanted to work making bricks, that since I was their only daughter, they must think about my future. They agreed. Then, in June of that year, my mother noticed breast pain and on the way to the hospital she and my father had an accident on their motorcycle. My father was injured so badly he was not able to work and the test my mother received showed that she had a tumor and needed surgery. For a while, we didn’t take her condition seriously, though she was on medication. And my father could not work the same as he did before. We wanted to be free so we worked so hard. My mother’s condition worsened, she was in so much pain and getting worse by the day. The doctors said she had breast cancer and needed surgery but working as slaves, we could not afford the treatment. In 2017 my father borrowed money from the brickyard owner for my mother's surgery, and we prayed every day for her healing. Her surgery was a success! Eventually my mother was able to start work again and my father could help bring us clay. In May 2020, Brother Suleman with All People Free came to visit us and we told him about our circumstances. He made a way for us to leave the brickyard and live in Anna’s house. Now I have started studying again at Anna’s House and I’m learning to sew. Soon we will begin learning to sew Bible covers, ladies purses, and clutches. We feel that God has seen our pain and heard our prayers for freedom. Giving the Gift of Liberation from Bonded Labor In our work, we encounter many young women like Salmoni, who are facing the worst of the hardships that bonded laborers are subjected to. Many of them are under threat of being trafficked, sold for organ harvesting, being beaten, and being starved. The physical and emotional toll is overwhelming. This is why we have launched Anna’s House, a safe home of restoration for these women and their families.  Anna’s House Provides Relief from Bonded Labor Our first home is called "Anna's House." Anna means “Grace” - empowerment to change; to move forward. Our goal is to help women at risk find grace and empowerment through emotional and physical support, as well as trade skill training to help them move into the future with everything they need to thrive. The goal of Anna's House is restoration for the whole family unit. During their stay at Anna’s House, we provide families with shelter, food, clothing, and training so they can become self-supporting. After their stay with us, we help relocate them to their own homes and establish them in a job. We continue to support these families with regular check-ins from our staff after they leave Anna’s House.  How to Give the Gift of Liberation:
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