Tiny Hands International
| Founded | 2005 |
|---|---|
| Founder | John Molineux |
| Type | Faith Based |
| Focus | Children's Homes, Anti-Trafficking |
| Location | |
Area served | South Asia |
| Method | Direct Aid / Program Funding |
Revenue | > US$270,000[1] |
| Website | TinyHandsInternational.org |
Tiny Hands International (THI) is a Christian nonprofit organization dedicated to helping orphaned and abandoned children and fighting sex trafficking in South Asia. Tiny Hands operates through national non-governmental organizations in Nepal, Bangladesh, and India.
Tiny Hands was established in 2005 and is based in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Mission statement
Tiny Hands is a Christian non-profit organization dedicated to empowering the church in the developing world to help the poor overcome poverty and become lights of the world. We are committed to fighting the greatest injustices in the world, and working towards relieving them however possible. We are particularly called to orphans, street children, and the victims of the sex-trafficking industry. We want to find those who are already doing the work, who are called and faithful, and help them do it in greater ways and with more efficiency. We do it all in obedience to, and for the glory of Jesus Christ.[2]
Programs
Children
Children's Homes- THI currently operates 12 family-like homes for orphaned or abandoned children, eight in Nepal, three in Bangladesh, and one in India.
Child Helpline- THI seeks to identify street children who have recently come to Kathmandu from the villages of Nepal and aims to return them to their families.
Women
Sex trafficking
Nepal is a source country for girls trafficked to the brothels of India for the purpose of sexual exploitation. An estimated 10,000-15,000 women are trafficked annually.[3] The following is a list of current THI programs:
- Border Monitoring - Tiny Hands hires employees at sites along the Nepal-India border in order to inhibit the unlawful trafficking of women and minors to India. Local volunteer subcommittees oversee operations and aid in the care of intercepted girls.
- Transit Homes - Girls stopped at the borders stay temporarily in homes while an incident investigation takes place.
- After care - Princess Home in Kathmandu is dedicated to the rehabilitation of former sex workers.
- Awareness - Border staff and subcommittee members seek to spread awareness about trafficking among border communities.
Microcredit
THI is currently helping fund small microcredit efforts in northern Bangladesh.
History
Tiny Hands was founded in 2005 by John Molineux. Molineux first visited Nepal in 2002 to volunteer with recent graduates of Taylor University. He returned in 2004 where, after having been overwhelmed by the contrast of street children to those children who he saw in local children's homes, he began collaborating with future Tiny Hands Nepal president Bishnu Parajuli . Initial projects included the establishment of small, family-like children's homes for orphaned and abandoned children, and a program aimed at identifying and liberating new street children.
Tiny Hands International was established as an umbrella organization to provide support to daughter non-governmental organizations in poor developing countries, the first of which was Tiny Hands Nepal, which also began in 2005. In 2007 Tiny Hands expanded to the countries of Bangladesh and India.
Motivated by the desire to find "the greatest injustices",[4] the leadership of Tiny Hands began work at the India-Nepal border in 2007 in an attempt to prevent some of the 10,000 Nepali women trafficking to India for the purpose of sexual exploitation from crossing the border.[3]
Finances
Tiny Hands is accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.[1]