Eshana's story - From fear to Freedom

Eshana with her little boy, Jaithra - now 17 months old.

20year-old Eshana was born and raised in Bangalore, India. After her parents separated when she was five years old, her mother left her to be raised by a relative. For a time, her mother was sending money to help these relatives raise her daughter, but when both Eshana’s parents passed away and the funds stopped coming, her relatives couldn’t afford to keep her in school past the 5th grade.

Later, at the age of just 15, she eloped with a masonry worker several years older than her who had promised her marriage and a life of love, but instead began to torture her after Eshana had their first child shortly after her 16th birthday. The abuse only worsened when her husband began an affair and eventually he stopped supporting his family financially since he was spending his wages on the other woman.

A shot from inside the kitchens at The Heart Of Baking. (Taken in 2019 )

So when Eshana found herself pregnant with her second child in early 2019, terrified that the violence would increase she decided to flee the home but was unable to take her eldest child with her. She attempted to move in with some relatives, however they too began to take advantage of her.

Seeing the exploitation, one kind-hearted family member took it upon themselves to research potential shelters for Eshana and her newborn baby. Following which, The Freedom Project India offered refuge to both Eshana and her 14-month-old at our safe-house on the 1st of February this year.

Now settled into this new home and new chapter of life, with her bouncy baby growing well, Eshana commented on how far she's come: "𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒. 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑛𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒."

Eshana now works with many of the other women in our safe home at the Heart of Baking enterprise. She loves the new skills she’s been able to learn, and the safety and security she feels each and every day thanks to the generous supporters of The Freedom Project.

Will you help to rescue and protect people like Eshana today?