As I write this post, a light quilt made of saris from India warms me on a chilly rainy day. It’s a prayer quilt of sorts, for I pray often for the woman who created it. Tones of tan, brown, orange and green spread across the fabric in dotted leaf and floral patterns. Lines of small, even stitches hold together layers of thin fabric.

I received the quilt as a gift from my daughter after she returned from a trip to India in the summer of 2007. She and two other young women from the university she attended traveled to India to spend a month in Calcutta—or Kolkata, as it is renamed by its country. The purpose of their trip, and their passion, was to work with organizations offering employment to women and girls trapped in Kolkata’s sex trade.

*Half of the females sold in Kolkata today are 11-14 years old and often come from poor families who sell them for $50. The “agent” will then upsell her to a “city employer” for $800. To her buyer she is a commodity, something to sell over and over again.

Two organizations in this city of five million captured the hearts of my daughter and her team. Both offer an opportunity for each woman they serve to move toward freedom through learning a new trade. At Freeset the women design and create canvas bags, and at Sari Bari they sew together quilts and other fabric products out of used, worn saris they gather from the street venders.

When I held my quilt for the first time, I immediately felt the grime from the streets, for they did not wash the fabrics before layering and sewing the quilts**. The sticky filth created a representative image for me of a life a woman, or young girl, is never meant to experience. She is not meant to be traded and sold like an object. She is not meant to be dehumanized as if she has no identity or dreams to be honored.

She is a beautiful creation of God, meant to be free, meant to have a voice.

In one corner of my quilt a small label reads, “made in India by Mukti.” Mukti means “freedom” in Bengali, and it is the first name given to each woman at Sari Bari as she begins her apprenticeship making quilts. The use of this name is partly to protect her identity for a time, but it holds great meaning for her as she stitches the labels onto her quilts. She is working toward freedom. She carries the hope that when she completes apprenticeship and has learned her new trade, she can successfully break free from the abuse and slavery of sex trade.

She knows Mukti is a temporary name, for one day she will attach a new label to her quilts, one printed with her personal name. What that moment must mean for each woman.

A name. Her name. Used with freedom and without fear.

As I hold my quilt and run my fingers along the rows of stitches, I think of the woman who pushed a needle through the four layers of fabric—Mukti, a person who desires freedom, someone with a name and a story I can’t even begin to imagine. I’m grateful hers is a story that is turning toward freedom.

So yes, I pray for the woman who sewed my quilt. I pray that with each stitch she saw herself more and more as one who is loved and valued. I pray she is using her name now, masterfully sewing new quilts and creating a new life. And I pray she is discovering she can be completely free as God means for each of us to be.

I haven’t experienced anything like this young woman has, but I’ve needed to discover, just like her, I have a name and a story that God knows well and desires to beautifully unfold with freedom and purpose. We each do. He knows our names and the areas of our life that lack freedom. He offers that freedom. And he uses us to bring that freedom to others.

You might be interested in participating in some way with anti-trafficking organizations like those mentioned in this post. A few options, including links, are listed below

Or perhaps you are already serving with an organization helping to set women free. If you are, we’d love to hear your story. Please share by leaving a comment or by using our contact page. We might choose to feature your story or organization on this site. We want to celebrate what you are doing!

National Human Trafficking Hotline

*Information from article: Trafficking of Children and Women in India
**They might wash the fabrics now, and likely always have before they are sold. My quilt was stitched and then immediately bought by my daughter as a gift for me.