For Wherever life takes me

As many of you know I spent the last year in Iran working at Omid-e-Mehr
an organization who gives deserving young women a chance to a new
life.  Bellow is the incredible story of one the young girls who has
changed my life.
At age 9, her family sold her to a man who forced her into prostitution.
At 18, she was arrested and sentenced to death for adultery, while her
pimp only paid a fine.

In Iran, women can drive, vote and own property. They also can be
legally independent from male relatives -- a status that is rare in the
rest of the region, where the male-dominant tenets of Islam and tribal
culture often subjugate women.
Yet Iran's legal system also codifies traditions that confer
second-class status for women. A woman's testimony in court is worth
half that of a man's. A girl is considered an adult under the law at age
9, but the age for boys is 13. The laws also deny women equal rights in
divorce, custody and inheritance.

But Layla's story -- a young woman forced into prostitution and
condemned to death for it -- is extraordinary in how it turned out.
Her fate changed when Ms. Sadr, a crusading lawyer on women's rights in
Iran, walked into her cell and saved her. Layla's ruddy face carries an
easy smile, and the sparkle in her eyes offers no hint of the harshness
of her past.
"When I was little, I didn't have any dreams for my life," said Layla.
"All my life, people hurt me ... until Shadi came. Now, each day is
better than the last."

Today Leila is 22. She is being taken care of at Omid-e-Mehr Foundation 
in Tehran. A beacon of light on a landscape which offers compassion to
abused and destitute young women. Omid-e-Mehr is a rarity in Iran
because it provides a way for girls to escape the shackles of their past
and not be defined by it.
Social workers are teaching Layla to read and do math. She gets to draw
and paint with her friends. She goes on field trips to the mountains
outside Tehran, and to see a movie once a week. Most of all, she feels
safe to dream about the future she wants — about finding love and
starting a real family.
"It's difficult to be a girl in Iran. You survive by learning to
tolerate what life brings you. That was what my life was like in the
past," said Layla. "Now I dream about making myself happy, about having
the whole world brought to me on a silver platter."
 
Click here to listen as Leila tells you her story

Omid-e-Mehr has saved Leila and 140 other deserving young women with
similar stories.  They will only be able to thrive and to continue with
their work by the generosity of other people and their belief in
Omid-e-Mehr’s capacity to change these girl’s lives.

You can help make a difference click here to learn more about how you can get involved   //imaginechange.blogspot.com/