Today we’d like to introduce you to Vicki Moore.
Vicki, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2004, I read a story online about sex trafficking in India. I had never heard of trafficking but had visited India and volunteered in an orphanage and loved the women and children. The story gave world-wide stats but also India specific. I was overwhelmed by what I was reading and couldn’t believe I had never heard of human trafficking. In the story a young woman, about 20, was interviewed and said she was forced into sex trafficking when she was a little girl, she never got to go to school and could not read or write. She said: I am not asking for a handout, I just want someone to teach me how to do something. The average age of a girl that is forced into prostitution in India is 9 years old. I knew without a doubt I had to do something. I began contacting people and learning as much as I could. Within four months, I traveled back to India to begin my journey. The plan was to have a home where young women could come for basic education and vocational training, they could live there or come for the day.
Our first home opened in January of 2005. Over the course of the first six years, we would have over 1,000 young women come to us for help, some with more success than others. We continue to work in aftercare to this day partnering with multiple homes. In 2009, a door opened to begin a prevention program in an area where the average age children dropped out of school was 2nd grade and many teenage girls were attempting suicide. We began an education program where today we tutor 85 children each day and work with their families to keep them in school. We also provide life skill classes for teenage girls and build self-help groups for them. Currently, we have 25 girls in the class. We provide educational and vocational services for young women and mothers in the community. In 2011, we had an opportunity to visit a couple of red light areas where women were still being trafficking. We rent a building that was once a brothel. On a daily basis, we have staff there reaching out to the women providing literacy classes, help acquire identification, and various vocational classes. We provide the classes in order to build relationships and trust to help get the women and their children out of this area. Many of the women in the red light areas are on drugs and in 2018, we partnered with a detox and rehab program to help women overcome their addictions and move forward. I travel back and forth to India each year staying about three months of the year and we have nationals that run all the day-to-day programs.
We are a non-profit but we also sell products made by the women we serve as well as other fair trade artisans. About 65% of our funding comes through product sales. You can support our work by shopping online or hosting a home party. If you own a store, you can also buy wholesale from us. Our website is www.rahabsrope.com.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As you can imagine, when you are 20 years old and was forced into trafficking as a little girl you believe this was your lot in life and there is no hope. Helping young women overcome this is difficult and many returns to all they have ever know. Many times, there have been needs we have wanted to fill but didn’t have either the funds or the correct person to fill the need. The work we do is not easy and can be very demanding and discouraging to our staff. However, we look at all the successes and know that it has all been worth the struggles.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Rahab’s Rope story. Tell us more about the business.
What sets us apart is that all of our profits go directly to fund the women and children we serve. We don’t just send a percentage of sales but all profits. The only reason for our business is to fund the work we do. We sell quality products that our women make. It is not crafty or you will not feel like you have purchased a pity buy just to help. You will love and cherish the product you buy from us. In our store, about 35 percent of the product is made by the women we serve and most of the rest are from other organizations that work with women around the world as well as fair trade companies.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t really believe in luck. I like to use the word opportunity. I believe in hard work and taking advantage of as many opportunities as possible. We have missed some opportunities but have been able to take advantage of so many more.
Contact Info:
- Address: 118 Washington St NW Gainesville, GA 305011404 Washington St. Clarkesville, GA 30523
- Website: www.rahabsrope.com
- Phone: 678-707-7055
- Email: info@rahabsrope.com
- Instagram: rahabsrope
- Facebook: Rahab’s Rope
- Other: Rahab’s Rope
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