The Round Home has been open for six years this month. Dozens of girls have come through the home since then. Though many have left the Round Home to continue into the next chapters of their lives, we still journey with them. Over our next few blog posts we want to share with you the stories of some of these amazing women.

A teenager at the time, we met Serey when she joined Love146 in 2008. When we first welcomed Serey into our home, her story unfolded slowly and tearfully…

She had been through a nightmare. Tricked by a woman who came to her town offering her a job in a department store, Serey was sold to a brothel where she was trapped for months while her father and brother desperately searched for her. There was a raid and Serey was removed from the brothel along with 12 other girls.

But in the years to follow, Serey’s journey continued to unfold before our eyes.

There was therapy and reflection,

…and rest,

…and visiting her hometown to see her mother for the first time since the exploitation,

…and deciding together with her mother that she should return to healing in the Round Home for a little while longer,

…and studying,

…and prom,

…and trips to the arcade,

…and dancing,

…and leaving the Round Home to live with her family again,

…and a wedding,

…and a child.

It’s been more than six years since we met Serey, and like all of us, she has good days, and hard days. It’s not about fairy tale endings, but a journey, and that is what your support has made possible. When we visited Serey and her family a couple of months ago, she was in the midst of real life: grieving her father’s recent and sudden death, while still continuing in preparations to return to vocational school. Love146 is there for the long haul, and will continue in relationship with Serey thanks to your generosity.