What You Can DoIf you want to help NivasaFoundation end modern dayslavery in Sri Lanka, you can:

Sponsor a childFor only $37.50 a month or $450 a year, youcan support all of a child's educational andwelfare needs in Sri Lanka.

Sponsoring a child through Nivasa Foundationallows you the opportunity to help a familyrealize their dreams and avoid enslavementnot only for the parents, but potentially forthe children aswell. Find out how to makea donation that can mean a future for a childand a life of freedom for his or her parents.

Spread the wordBeatrice Fernando, the president of NivasaFoundation, is a native Sri Lankan. Shesurvived domestic servitude in Lebanon thenwent on to publish her story and testify beforeCongress, where she urged US leaders to takeaction against human trafficking.

Volunteer your skillsNivasa Foundation is entirely staffed byvolunteers. If you have skills you would liketo put to use in the fight against modern dayslavery, we are always eager to enlist morehelp. We are particularly in need of helpwith web design, grant writing, organizationalconsulting, and accounting. But we can alsouse people willing to donate their time toother clerical and research projects.

DonateContact us to find out how to make a financialcontribution which can help Nivasa Foundationend modern day slavery.

Phone 617.996.9050Email info@nivasafoundation.orgWeb www.nivasafoundation.org

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Our Mission Beatrice FernandoFounder of Nivasa Foundation

A Voice for ChangeNivasa Foundation seeksan end to modern day slavery.We assist former victims of enslavement inSri Lanka by supporting their rehabilitationneeds and those of their families.

A seasoned speaker, Fernando has movedthousands of Americans at schools, colleges,and religious communities across thecountry. Beatrice is knowledgeable notonly about her own experience and aboutthe details of trafficking in Sri Lanka, butalso about all aspects of human trafficking allover the world: sex trafficking, chattel slavery,sweatshop child labor, forced agriculturallabor. Speaking on behalf of the millions whostill suffer from modern-day slavery, Beatriceinspires her audiences to be concerned aboutthe issue and to become activists in the fightagainst slavery at most.

Beatrice Fernando is a survivorof slavery. After answering anad for a local agency lookingto employ housemaids, shetook a job in Lebanon. Heronly goal was to make enoughmoney to provide for her youngson back home in Sri Lanka.

Unbeknownst to her, the employment agencywas running a corrupt scheme to lure youngpeople into slavery.

When Beatrice arrived at the home of hersupposed employers, she was forced tosurrender her passport. She was compelledto work 20 hour days, and she was never paid.She was forbidden to leave the house whereshe worked or speak to other people. Notlong after Beatrice arrived, the woman of thehouse began to viciously beat her. She regularlyabused her and refused her anyth ing to eat.

Nivasa Foundation supports the repatriatedvictims by funding the education andmaintenance of their children in orderto avoid the cycle of poverty and victimizationwhich occurs to these families.

We provide direct aid grants to organ izationsin Sri Lanka which provide for the welfare andrehabil itation of Sri Lankans who were enslaved. Join her fight to abolish the institution of

slavery. She is an inspiration to us all, and anempowering speaker, giving voice to thosewho cannot speak for themselves.

Nivasa Foundation also produces educationalresources and grass roots advocacy campaignsregarding human trafficking in Sri Lanka andaround the world.

To ContactNivasa Foundationor To Make a DonationPhone 617.996.9050Email info@nivasafoundation.orgWeb www.nivasafoundation.org

Desperate to escape her captors, Beatricemade a decision she thought might mean theend of her life. She jumped off a fourth floorbalcony to try to save herself from the tortureshe was enduring.

She lived, but she soon realized that shewas paralyzed. Today, Beatrice lives inMassachusetts and is able to walk and functionnormally. But Beatrice realized her story is notunique. Finally able to tell her life's story, shepublished her memoir in a book entitled,In Contempt of Fate. She's also published achapter in a new anthology of contemporaryslave narratives entitled Enslaved.

Nivasa Foundation supports the children ofvictims of human trafficking, taking the burdenof education off the shoulders of parents whoare desperate to provide for their children-so desperate they've previously done work forwhich they weren't paid and were often abusedand mistreated. When you sponsor a childthrough Nivasa Foundation, parents are ableto look for work locally in Sri Lanka, and avoidthe exploitative labor which perpetuates thecycle of enslavement that is endemic inpoor communities.

What We Do

"Beatrice FernandoPresident of the Board, Public Speakerbeatrice@nivasafoundation.org

Uora Kasten: Programming/Administrationliora@nivasafoundation.org

Deborah Jordan: Contributions and Eventsdeborah@nivasafoundation.org

Now, Beatrice has realized that speakingout is not enough. She has founded NivasaFoundation as a means to putting a stop tothe problem of modern day slavery. Beatriceworks tirelessly as an activist, trying to helpfree an estimated 27 million people enslavedaround the world. •• Gloria Steinem

and Beatrice Fernando

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