Ate Pat (MRH House Parent) and Jamie Beason (friend of MRH, founder of JOYAMP, and guest blogger)
I recently went on a trip and met the girls of My Refuge House. During my week-long visit, I was able to spend quality time with a few girls in particular. Describing their spirits is difficult to put into words, and relaying to you the impact they’ve had on my life is even harder.
In short, the girls of MRH are AMAZING!!!
Maybe the best way to describe their inquisitive nature and all-around happiness is with a few examples of their thirst for knowledge. In preparation for my trip, I had planned to teach the girls some basic computer skills, but I didn’t know much of what to expect in regards to equipment, scheduling, or skill level.
Thankfully, Hope, an MRH peer leader, had already thought through this for me! Hope had already done the leg work to schedule three training sessions down to the minute, complete with the names of which girls would be in which session.
Every single one of the girls, even the smallest at 12 years young, was hungry to learn. As we created 3-page PowerPoints about their favorite animals or celebrity, I was constantly awestruck by how excited they were to Google, copy, paste, and create.
This unwavering desire to learn was everywhere…
…Such as at the table where I watched two survivors quickly learn how to play chess for the first time.
…Or at the walls of ceiling-high bookshelves full of books at the house that some girls had already entirely read!
…Or in the way that the older girls were getting accepted into local colleges.
…Or how Sara, another peer leader, was learning to play Für Elise by tapping the pen-scribbled piano keys on the side of a large box as we waited in Filipino traffic.
The Amazing Girls of MRH, jumping for joy
Spending time with these wonderful girls, and in the same week learning more about the horrible conditions that brought them to MRH, didn’t just rattle my cage. It changed me forever.
It has even impacted my family to the extent that my husband, parents, and I have created the nonprofit, JOYAMP, which works to give people real ways to plug into the fight against sex trafficking. Meeting the girls at My Refuge House has been life changing, and now I don’t ever plan to let go.
Click here to spark joy and help My Refuge House restore one life at a time.
