It wasn’t too long ago that a friend of mine (Marissa Kokkoros) quiet her job here in Toronto and moved Italy in search of her calling. While she was there she started teaching English, she did some travelling, some volunteering and helped those around her. Even with all this, things still weren’t clear for her and so her journey continued. She travelled some more and with that came more questions. Why did I feel so at home with the poor? When in Kenya, why did I feel like every orphan was my own? Why was the squalor of Kalighat, Kolkata so beautiful to me? What did I REALLY have to do? Why couldn’t I receive a divine calling like my idol Mother Teresa did?
After much self-study, reading a million books and a million sleepless nights, thing became clear to her.
All she had to do was dedicate her life to the ones her loved so much. Women. Girls. The poor. The oppressed. Those sleepless nights, those happy feelings when travelling, the pain she felt for others as if they were her own… that was HER calling. Something that only a true selfless person can do.
She didn’t study human rights, but they are a part of everything she does and says. They are a part of every breath she take. This is her life. And she is happy now.
This journey has brought Marissa back home to Toronto where just a few short months ago she began Aura Freedom International.
Aura Freedom, a Canadian non-profit, is hosting ‘An Evening with Humanity’, a rescue event on Sept 29th in Toronto with the goal of raising enough money to rescue 15 trafficked girls from brothels in India and bring them back home. Aura Freedom is honoured to welcome Anuradha Koirala to Toronto for the event. Anuradha has been fighting human trafficking for over 20 years, rescuing more than 12,000 girls. Want to know more? Let Demi Moore tell you…
As mothers and women we must stand up and speak for the girls who have no voice, no freedom. They are somebody’s daughter, too. When our girls go to school, they are forced to entertain 20-30 ‘clients’ per day. Let’s stand together, for the girls, and say NO MORE to human trafficking and sexual slavery. As Anuradha once said, “If she were your daughter, how would you fight?”.
For more information on this event or to find out how you can donate and help these young girls just click on the image below.
