IT WAS NOT UNUSUAL FOR SALI to be summoned by her male neighbor who frequently sent her out to make small purchases for him. But one day, when Sali was eight-years-old, the neighbor called her to his house and, this time, instead of sending her out, he brutally raped her. Sali was left crying and bleeding until another neighbor found her and took her to the hospital.

When Sali’s mother learned what had happened to her daughter, she informed the police. Fortunately for the family, officers of the Mena Police Station in Makeni Town had been trained by WHI to identify human trafficking. During their training, they had learned how to investigate and charge cases of trafficking under the existing law, the 2005 Anti-Human Trafficking Act. The officer immediately recognized the importance of Sali’s abuse and notified Ruth Ada Karmara, a WHI member staff, of the incident.

Ruth ensured Sali received the necessary medical treatment and immediately began to address her psychological and emotional needs. Ruth began working with Sali through a basic Child Development Program (CDP), a curriculum designed to help children reach their full potential. “We sit outside,” Ruth says. “We don’t discuss what happened unless she wants too, but the CDP allows us to take the child’s mind from what happened to focus on basic child development activities. We tell stories that make her laugh again.”

Although Sali’s family could not afford school fees, WHI helped her to go to school at a local church. Sali is now in class four. She regularly attends church with her grandmother who is also now active in ministry.

“She did not understand the danger of what happened to her,” Ruth Ada Kamara, WHI-FAAST Makeni staff, said. “She sees prostitutes and told me she thought that [rape] just happens to anybody…that God marked that for her…that it was her destiny. But she now knows that it was not the will of God, but he has used it for good.”

*Sali’s name has been changed to protect her identity.