"I was 20 years old, had two children with a man who had abused me and was barely making ends meet. A woman in the neighborhood held out to me a better future in Saudi Arabia. My situation here was hopeless, so I decided to take her offer. I had no idea what was in store for me."

Sandra (47) comes from a poor village in Nigeria. She grew up as the second child in a family of five sisters and one brother. When she was eight, her father died. Her mother was left to care for the family of seven on her own. They had little income and Sandra quickly learned to take care of herself. She was 12 when she started working as alive-in maid. There she was exploited and abused. She was 14 when she had her first child and 16 when her second child was born.

Funny

After years of abuse and mistreatment, Sandra decided to return to her mother. “It just wasn’t safe anymore for me and my children. One day, a woman I had seen before in the neighborhood where I used to live approached me. She wanted to help me, saying she liked me because I was funny. She told me I would have more chance of finding work as a hairdresser in Saudi Arabia, and she offered to help. The journey would cost $ 1,500, which she said she would lend me.” Struggling to survive and seeing no other way out, Sandra accepted the offer. Hoping for a better future, she left her home, everything she knew, and her children behind with her mother. Sandra had no idea that she would never reach Saudi Arabia.

Human Traffickers

The woman turned out to be a madam and part of a network of human traffickers who recruited even more women for the journey. They travelled through remote areas along hidden country roads in vans. Along the way, the traffickers cut off the women’s body hair and nails, which they put a curse on. The belief in voodoo is so strong that this was enough to keep the women in line. The same went for Sandra. “You want to run, but you don’t know where you are. You’re starving, you have no money, and they threaten to do something bad with your hair if you try to escape. So you do what they say.”

Forced sex

Every time Sandra was placed in a village hotel or restaurant along the route, she was forced to have sex with men in tiny rooms, furnished with nothing but a mattress. The madam told her this was how she had to repay her debt. If she refused, something terrible would happen to her family. Sandra never saw a cent of the money she ‘earned’—it was split between the madam and the hotel or restaurant owner.

Black Mafia
Eventually, Sandra reached the Mediterranean coast in Libya. She was allowed to board a ship bound for Italy, but it would cost her another € 25,000. “I had to pay that money to the madam’s ‘brother’, who would be waiting for me in Italy.”

Sandra ends up in a refugee camp in Sicily. There she thought she would be rid of what she calls the Black Mafia . But after she is released, the madam's brother waits for her at the exit. "I don't understand how it's possible, but he knows who I am. He advises me not to flee, because they have accomplices everywhere, who will pick me up wherever I am." Thus, she remains entangled in the web of human traffickers. Even when she manages to escape to Naples, she is recognized there by someone from the network. She realizes that she will never be safe in Italy and decides to flee to the Netherlands.

Safe at last

With the help of an acquaintance, Sandra arrived in the Netherlands in 2011. For the first time in years, she felt safe. “It was only in the Netherlands that I finally felt I wasn’t being followed anymore.” She built her life from scratch, on her own. She found housing, supported herself by cutting hair, and never stayed in a shelter or relied on Government aid. She kept a low profile until friends told her aboutTheBridge2Hope. The organization became a springboard for her future.

Independent

“I owe so much to TheBridge2Hope. They taught me so many things—how to make dresses, how to speak Dutch, and how to use a computer and a smartphone. Thanks to these lessons, I was able to apply for a job completely on my own at a major clothing store. Just last week, my contract was renewed for another six months. I went from having nothing to holding down a job, paying taxes, and becoming part of the system. For the first time, I officially exist on paper.”

Her next step is renewing her temporary residence permit, which she secured by living with an African man from Spain. “It’s not an ideal situation,” Sandra admits, “but it’s the only way I can stay in the Netherlands for now.” She says she won’t truly allow herself to think about the future until her permit is renewed. “But my dream is to open my own beauty salon.”

Future

That future does not lie in Nigeria. "I'm afraid I will run into someone from that network, because Nigerians never forget the face of someone who still owes them money." But that she dares to cautiously look ahead, that, Sandra says, she owes all to TheBridge2Hope . "They are always there for me. When I attended their program and even now, as an alumnus. I have always felt supported by TheBridge2Hope and, as a result, have regained faith in myself and my strength. I always tell new participants to stay focused and believe in themselves. If you do, then everything will succeed for you, by the grace of God."

Written by Bianca Wijnstekers