We love sharing stories of the women who, as part of a skills-training program, sew together PUNJAMMIES®. The Sudara Stories series highlights a few of these strong, amazing women. Today, we are honored to introduce Annu.
Annu’s Story of Hope and Freedom
Annu remembers moving from village to village and city to city as a young child. Her mother, a sex-worker, was always in search of work so that she could provide for her family. When Annu became of school age, though, her mother enrolled her in a government run hostel in hopes that she could receive an education and have a stable place to live. Annu says those years in the hostel were some of the worst in her life. She experienced great abuse and was often alienated by the other students when they found out her mother was a sex worker. She dropped out in the 10th grade because she could no longer deal with the daily abuse she faced there.
About the same time that Annu dropped out of school, her mother’s health began deteriorating and she was no longer able to work or bring in as much income as she used to. This angered her mother’s pimp to the point that he tried to force Annu into the sex trade too.
Annu’s mother brought her to the Sudara centers last year. She told us that she did not want Annu to suffer like she has for so many years and hoped her daughter could have a new life here. Annu is currently enrolled in our skills-training courses and expects to graduate next year.