A COURAGEOUS WOMAN SPEAKS OUT: BEATRICE FERNANDO

—by Phoebe Hoss

On November 11, 2007 after the service, the Peace Task Force and the Women’s Alliance co-sponsored a talk by Beatrice Fernando on the evils of human trafficking, or modern-day slavery. Around the world, 27 million men, women, and children are victims of this heinous crime, and Ms. Fernando is one of the few who have survived it to dare to go public about what happened to her.

From a poor family in Sri Lanka (once Ceylon), and the young unmarried mother of a son, she was enticed with the promise of a good income into signing up to be a housemaid in Lebanon. Once there, however, her passport was confiscated, and she was sent off to work for a woman who flagrantly abused her, beating and starving her. In desperation, she escaped by dropping off her employer’s fourth-floor balcony. Despite a fractured spine and no money (she was never paid), she managed to return home. Over the next few years, despite being stigmatized, even by her family, as a victim, she managed to recover physically and to work to get to the United States. Here, she began to speak out about her experience in order to make people aware of the evil of human trafficking and to help its victims.

Not only were Ms Fernando’s talk and animated person an inspiration, but so is her recent work. Since coming to the United States, she has written a moving book about her life: In Contempt of Fate (available through www.bearopublishing.com). She also founded and now directs the Nivasa Foundation, which funds the education and care of many victims’ children.