Olga* is a nine-year-old girl who currently resides in Willow’s aftercare shelter.

Olga was adopted by a trafficker who picked her up from a police station at the age of three. The trafficker acted as a father figure, so young Olga was oblivious to the fact that he was simply biding his time waiting for her to develop physically so that he could begin sexually molesting her, like her fellow housemates.

During therapy at Willow International, it was discovered that Olga was so traumatized from the abuse she suffered, that her only childhood memory was that of her mother in a pool of blood outside their house. She could not remember her father or stepmother, and vaguely recalled a lady named ‘Big Rose’ that helped her trafficker develop a fake NGO – a house of horrors – to traffic and molest children daily.

Throughout her healing journey, Olga is slowly learning what it means to be a nine-year-old who is truly loved and cared for. She has developed age-appropriate coping skills and established healthy relationships with the adults and her newfound friends at the shelter. In addition to playing with her dolls, her case manager has introduced art therapy and music as forms of expression. She rests safe and sound and has worked through some incredibly difficult trauma. Olga has finally been able to cultivate a positive outlook for her future. Most importantly, she is happy and healthy.

*To protect survivor confidentiality, a pseudonym has been used.