In February, Sofia launched her fundraiser.
"Save Our Sisters" she called it. A school-wide campaign to raise money for anti-trafficking organizations.
She was unstoppable. Organized bake sales. Sold t-shirts. Gave presentations. Recruited her entire grade to help.
In one month, she raised fifteen thousand dollars.
"This is amazing," Elena said when Sofia presented the check to Haven House. "Do you know how many girls this will help?"
"I want to help more. This is just the beginning."
"You sound like your mother."
"Good. Mama taught me that if you see suffering, you don't look away. You help."
I watched my daughter this incredible person who'd taken the worst parts of my history and transformed them into activism and felt something shift.
My past wasn't just darkness anymore. It was also fuel. Motivation. A reason to fight for others.
Sofia had shown me that.
Spring came with its usual promise of renewal.
