Transition House

Mirza arrived at New Horizons in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2021. With no parents to protect her, she had been raped and sexually abused by a family member. Her first few months with us were very challenging, and she remained scared and distrustful of our staff and the other girls. Struggling to deal with her trauma she isolated herself, crying alone.  Our team of counselors worked tirelessly with her, trying to provide her with the comfort and care she so desperately needed. She didn’t know how to read or write even at a very basic level, and so our teachers took small steps teaching her first in Telugu. Over time, she learned to respect the staff that were trying so hard to help her and little by little she has started to heal.  In 2022, she turned 18 years old and moved on to our Transition

Vala’s Story At just four years of age, Vala lost both her parents to HIV. She passed into the care of her aunt who, when she turned sixteen, tried to force her into an arranged marriage with an older man. This older man intended to profit from her by selling her to human traffickers. Terrified but unwilling to give up, Vala reached out to the police for help. It was this brave decision that led to her arrival with us at New Horizons House on December 1st 2020.  At first, Vala struggled with the trauma of her past. Trying to protect herself, she was defensive towards the House Mothers and counselling staff at NHH. Despite many of their shared experiences, Vala isolated herself from her peers. However, as time went by she slowly began to engage with our aftercare program and Vala found what she had lost—she found hope for

Like many of our girls, Roopa’s background was one of poverty and instability. Unable to support her, her mother sent her to live with her cousin where she was put to work as a maid and sexually assaulted. Later, when she attended Junior college she was abused by her neighbor and sent to several different hostels before she arrived in NHH in July 2020 aged sixteen.  When she first arrived at NHH she was disconnected and aloof, consumed by the misery and trauma of her past experiences. However, as she engaged with our aftercare program she began to adjust and developed strong friendships with the other girls. She loves to help the house mothers with cooking in the kitchen and through this she has developed confidence and grew to accept herself and her past. She developed a real skill in tailoring and so when the time came for her to

Mallika and her family worked as ragpickers, part of the lower classes in India who survived by segregating waste. Her father was an alcoholic, incapable of taking care of her, her mother or her younger brothers. Malliker fell victim to a trafficker who forced her into prostitution. In late 2018, a policeman rescued her and handed her over to the CWC who in turn reached out to us at New Horizons House. Mallika joined us in March 2019.  Once with us Mallika began to focus on her health. She began to eat healthy, nutritious food and grew stronger physically. She was eager to learn and worked hard at her academic studies. She decided to go home to visit her sick mother in early 2020 just as the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown hit and Mallika became trapped at home. The NHH team sprung into action and sent a team down to collect