IRETI'S DREAM (TRAVAILS OF A TRAFFICKED VICTIM)

For so long, she had always dreamed of travelling out of the country. All efforts in pursuing her dream after secondary school proved abortive. Despite the hardship faced by the family; Ireti never gave up on her dream. As things became harder, she resorted into doing menial jobs for people in her neighborhood. It was during the course of this job that she met with Jessica; a distant cousin of Mrs Thompson who treated Ireti like her own daughter due to her diligence and humility.

Ireti's hope of travelling abroad came alive when she was given an offer to travel abroad by Jessica. It was unknown to Ireti and Mrs Thompson that Jessica had an ulterior motive of trafficking her to Italy to work as a commercial sex worker. On the day of departure, Ireti and her mother both could not hold back their tears as they both knew they wouldn't be seeing each other for a long time. Amidst the tears, Ireti's mother prayed for her and admonished her to always remember the daughter of whom she is. Then they bade each other farewell.

On getting to Europe, all her hopes of furthering her studies and working we're dashed as she realized that she had been deceived by Jessica as she was forced to work as a commercial sex worker. With pain and regret, Ireti continued working as a commercial sex worker for years.

All through those years, she suffered a lot of stigmatization and abuse but she never give up. She look forward to a day she would gain freedom. One day, while waiting for her sex client to come pick her for the night at a bus stand. She met a saviour named Mr Greg who heard her muttering words to herself. He noticed Ireti's health looked frail so he tried talking her out but she was restrictive as fear of who Mr Greg might grip her.

Unknown to Ireti, Mr Greg was an anti-human trafficking advocate. Mr Greg was persistent in knowing her but just when she was about to respond she slumped and was rushed to the nearest hospital.

There she was diagnosed with chronic cervical cancer. After she was revived, Mr Greg re-introduced himself as an anti human trafficking advocate and asked to know what could have happened.

On knowing this, Ireti realized she needed to lend out her voice for help. After hearing Ireti's story; Mr Greg was touched and resolved to help Ireti and others that were trafficked. Ireti wished she never give in to Jessica's deception. She knew her time was up as life slowly creeps out of her. With teary eyes, she asked Mr Greg to help her by making sure no one ends up like her, thereafter she gave up the ghost. Mr Greg contacted a NGO involved in anti human trafficking in collaboration with the agency involved in anti human trafficking to rescue others that were trafficked.

Ireti's dream turned out a nightmare due to deception. Let's do make sure we do our best so no one ends up like Ireti.

Say NO to human trafficking!

#endmoderndayslavery
#EndHumanTraffickingNow