There are a lot of building blocks, thousands of pieces to be put in place, to create the opportunity for one woman to find a lifetime of sustainable freedom from sexual exploitation. Some of the pieces are well-known: mental health support, treatment for trauma, a safe place to live, an economic opportunity that will help lay a foundation for a life. What it takes to put all those pieces in place and sustain them is an immense endeavor, and it takes a community!
At Sari Bari, we have been building and putting those pieces into place for hundreds of women over the years. We did the math. It costs about $5 a day per woman that we support on their freedom journey to sustain the infrastructure she needs to continue on her journey. And that cost does not count what she herself contributes through her own labors as an artisan producer. When you buy her bag, you support her employment, and that is a critical piece. There are also many other pieces that have to be sustained through profits from the goods sold . But the rest, and it is a big rest, has to be sustained through partnerships. Sometimes that’s a grant or an individual gift or lots of individual gifts.
Basically, we need to find ways to sustain the infrastructure that supports the women who have freedom now, and the women who will work with us in the future, on their freedom journey. And we do this through donations. I had hope many years ago that we could just survive on sales. And sales are good, but they are not good enough to sustain all the critical pieces that make it possible for us to support and sustain freedom for so many women and their families.
So, $5 a day per women covers it. Or $35 a week. Or $140 a month or $1680 per a year per woman. We are in a critical space and we are asking you to join us, to journey with us. Would you consider journeying with the women of Sari Bari at one of these levels on a monthly or yearly basis?
The journey is long and no one walks the freedom journey alone. Do you think your freedom journey may be tied up with ours? Will you join us as we seek to sustain the possibilities of freedom long term.
One of my favorite quotes is from Lila Watson, Australian Aboriginal leader,
“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
We invite you to consider that your liberation may be bound up with ours, and we can journey together toward sustainable freedom. Think about it. $5 a month changes the story for one woman for today, it makes her journey possible. It’s a good place to start. Will you journey with us?
Learn more about how to Journey with us
For Freedom,
Sarah Lance
Founder, Managing Director