Day 51: for Maira

Maira's Story:

Maira was 15 when two well-dressed men driving a nice car approached her and two friends in a small Honduran village. They told the girls they were businessmen and offered to take them to the United States to work in a textile factory. Maira thought it was the perfect opportunity to help her single mother, who struggled to support seven children.
But upon arriving in Houston, the girls were held captive, beaten, raped, and forced to work in cantinas that doubled as brothels. Men would come to the cantina and choose a beer and a girl, sometimes as young as 12. They would pay for the beer and sit with the girl while she drank it. If they wanted to have sex with the girl, they would take her to the back and pay cash for a mattress, paper towels, and spermicide. The captors beat the girls daily if they did not make enough money.
After six years, Maira was able to escape the cantina and return to her mother with the help of a kind American family. Her two friends remain missing.

source of Maira's story

3.2 miles for Maira
268.97 miles to date.

Ruby
Sandra
Berchewkan
Mani
Sophea
Janna
Syowai
Ka
Stephanie
Alex
Mai
Khamta
Adaze
Jayati
Boloztuya
Prettygirl
Theresa
Esperanza
Xuan
Geeta
Debbie
G.Q., N.H., and S.O.
Anuradha
Veronica
Martina
Shauna
Rosa
Jaycee
Charlotte Awino
Kikka Cerpa
Jana
Lannie
Samira
Mari
Sarah
Mao Mao
Keisha
Brittany
Gabriella
Akemi
Olga
Alissa
Karina
Maira

Because He first loved me,
Stephanie