Advertisement feature
Each week at Starfish Project, we visit women in brothels around our cities. We plant seeds of value and hope as we build relationships with the women we meet. With each visit, we water these seeds, longing to see every woman experience freedom and bloom into the amazing woman within her. Yet the timing is far beyond our control.
Any good farmer will know that some seeds take root in mere days while others take much longer. For many of the women we meet, the scars of trauma and pain must be uprooted to make room for even one tiny seed of hope. Practically speaking, that amounts to months and sometimes years of visits, text messages, and encouragement.
Recently, we received a call from a woman who said she knew someone in our office. She shared that her contact was a Western woman with dark hair who had a small baby boy. It could only be our Outreach Director, Shelby, although her son was already 4. She shared that she had recently returned to our city and was hoping that the offer of a safe job at Starfish Project was still available.
“The Outreach Team thought they’d never see her again. Yet today, three and half years later, she is here!”
When she came into the office, Shelby almost melted into tears. She remembered Shan*. Shelby had met Shan over 3 years ago on her first outreach with Starfish Project. Shan was in a dark brothel in a village on the verge of being torn down when they met. Shan lit up on that first visit as Jenny and Shelby, baby carrier on her chest, greeted her. A mom herself, Shan doted on Shelby’s son and his chubby little legs. After a few months of visits, Shan was simply gone. The Outreach Team thought they’d never see her again. Yet today, three and half years later, she is here!
Shan shared her story- from compounded childhood trauma, being sold into a marriage as a teenager, to being sent to work in brothels. She left our city years ago to escape an abusive relationship, yet today, TODAY, she is back and ready to begin again. The seeds of hope have taken root, and she is ready to bloom.
Here at Starfish Project, we help exploited women and girls like Shan leave brothels and experience freedom. Through our social enterprise, women establish independence by receiving literacy, maths, computers, and life skills training, all while creating beautiful jewellery.
We have served thousands of women and girls through our community outreach and have employed and trained over 180 women through our jewellery company. We have established the only safe house and training facility for women escaping exploitation in our city of over 20 million. Many women in our program have gone on to develop careers in photography, design, and accounting! The life transformations your jewellery purchases can catalyse are incredible!
Though we started as a small group of women hoping on behalf of others who had lost all hope, Starfish Project has grown into a highly successful jewellery brand. We are featured in household-name stores and fair-trade businesses worldwide now that we have launched in the UK. Our UK website is designed and managed by women who have experienced freedom and developed careers here at Starfish Project. We are proud that our jewellery business is now run mainly by women who have escaped human trafficking, is leading the way in on-trend designs and industry-leading quality for ethical fashion.
Yet, there are still many women and girls in exploitation today. We desire to see each one experience freedom. Together, we can! With each and every purchase, you partner with us to visit brothels in East Asia and invite women to begin a new, sustainable life of freedom. Share the Starfish Project mission and Shan’s story of hope as you wear and gift beautiful Starfish Project jewellery this Mother’s Day and beyond.
From all of us here at Starfish Project, we invite you to join us in celebrating the power of hope. What once was lost, has now been found. Join us in celebrating Shan and the ever-blooming seeds of hope among us.
To find out more visit our website
Find us on Instagram: Instagram: Starfish_project
Company Introduction:
At Starfish Project, survivors of human trafficking and exploitation experience freedom, establish independence and develop careers by creating beautiful, high-quality jewellery.
With each and every purchase, you partner with us to help women escape brothels in East Asia and begin new lives as jewellery-makers, accountants, photographers, and leaders. 100% of your purchase is reinvested into our social mission to restore hope to exploited women. Starfish Project has employed over 180 women and served thousands more through our Community Outreach Services.
