22-year-old Ella was a guest on Swiss television's talk program “Club” in November. Together with experts from politics and society, she discussed prostitution and described her own experiences. You can find the whole program here.
Ella is a participant in our Employment for Freedom work integration program. On the morning of recording the program, Ella sent us the following voice message (written by us) at 8:03 a.m.:
“I was 18 years old, I was exhausted. On the verge of taking my own life. In a back room in some brothel here in Zurich. I screamed for help, wrote to two organizations. A state-financed organization took me into a shelter. But she couldn't do anything for me if I didn't report my pimp. I wasn't able to report him due to fear. But I knew that I would not accept what happened to thousands of women and girls like me out there: that we would have to prostitute ourselves, break down and that no one would care. The employee of this organization told me that I should go back to Germany and get an apprenticeship. She didn't understand me, didn't believe in me. She didn't think I could be a voice. But I so wish that someone in this world would believe in me. I then went to Heartwings. I was listened to seriously there. Heartwings employees motivated me to record my dreams on the dream wall. I wrote down a lot of dreams. One of them: I want to be a voice for all women out there. Everyone at Heartwings believed in me. You saw something in me that wasn't there yet. Four years have passed since then. A lot has happened. Today I am invited to the “club” on Swiss television. I will be a voice today — for all women who are not yet able to raise their voices themselves. I'm fighting for change. I'm so super emotional right now.”
After recording the program, Ella told us:
“Everything feels good and right. I know that today I've made the world a little bit more beautiful. And you know what? I forgive the woman who didn't believe in me back then.”
By the way, Ella's heartfelt message to everyone who is reading these lines here is:
“Please believe in your dreams. You can make the world more beautiful with it. Just like I did. Never give up, please! I won't either.”
