“I was very rude back then,” Morning Star said, laughing.

Her infectious smile lit up the room as our interviewers laughed along with her. The statement was comically divergent from the well-spoken, bubbly young woman sitting with them.

The Zimbabwean survivor had taken some time out of vocational training to speak with our team about her journey. It was only a month and a half since her rescue, but you wouldn’t know it from her demeanour. Dressed in a chef’s uniform and hair net, she spoke with an easy confidence that’s rarely seen in survivors so soon after exploitation.

When Newton, our field correspondent, asked what she’d like her pseudonym to be, she didn’t hesitate: “I’ve always wanted to be called Morning Star.”

“I did what I had to.”

Like many survivors, Morning Star’s journey before finding Destiny Rescue is laced with cruelty and desperation. When their father remarried, she and her younger sister were horribly neglected by their stepmother any time their dad was away at work. The callous woman would withhold meals from the girls for entire days at a time.

“I had to do something for my sister,” the survivor said in a pained voice. 

During our interview with her, Morning Star had to take a minute to compose herself, wiping tears from her eyes as she remembered what happened next.

There was a neighbour, she explained, who introduced Morning Star to some “businesses.” Determined to provide for her little sister, Morning Star made a tough decision. “I did what I had to do,” she said solemnly.

Even with the little money she brought home from exploitation, the children still barely had enough to survive. Things came to a head when their stepmother found the two girls eating food she’d hidden away from them. The cruel woman flew into a rage, beating both children so mercilessly that they had to go to the hospital.

Two steps forward, one step back

Their injuries were severe enough that another non-governmental organisation (NGO) took notice and stepped in, helping the girls recover and move in with their grandmother, out of reach of the woman who treated them so cruelly. Despite the broken bones and emotional trauma they endured, the children decided not to press charges against their stepmother because they didn’t want another child to suffer for their sake. “She had to take care of our little (step)brother,” explained Morning Star, “so we couldn’t let her go (to prison).”

Life with their grandmother was better, but money was still tight. In addition to normal living expenses, their grandmother suffers from a serious chronic illness that requires extensive medical treatment. Now seeking to provide for both her little sister and her grandmother, Morning Star went back to earning money the only way she could. “I did what I had to do again… so we could eat,” she said with a wan smile.

Fortunately, her story doesn’t end there. Just before her 18th birthday, she enrolled in the care of the local Destiny Rescue project, a move that has changed her life drastically.

Room to dream

Her catering work is more than just an income stream; Morning Star enjoys preparing dishes as well. “Getting to know all of these different types of ingredients, learning to incorporate them in dishes; it’s a good feeling,” she said, smiling.

Freedom from desperation has given Morning Star room to dream. After finishing school, she plans to attend university to pursue her passion for archaeology! Until then, she’s committed to taking care of her family. 

For Morning Star, freedom from exploitation was only the beginning. Rescue made meals possible for her family. Rescue made medical care possible for her grandmother, and gave Morning Star room to aspire to greater things.

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