Roopa Raju began working roughly 10 hours a day as a rag picker when she was just a little girl. What’s a rag picker? Well, in India today, many of the 250 million Dalits (formerly called the Untouchables) rummage through the nation’s trash, looking for anything that can be recycled, bartered, eaten or sold. On a “good day,” Roopa would bring home the equivalent of two dollars. But as she got older, her parents became dissatisfied with her meager trash-combing earnings. That’s when they made the horrific decision to sell their daughter to sex traffickers.
Fortunately a few years ago, Roopa at the age of 17 discovered the Tarika Women’s Center in Bangalore, where she learned English and a trade. Looking back on her family’s betrayal, Roopa understandably confesses, “I wanted to kill [my parents]; I wanted something terrible to happen to them.” But in a Tarika graduation ceremony last summer (that I was privileged to attend), Roopa—along with 104 others, about 25 of which had been trafficked— rejoiced in her newfound life. “I came from a Hindu background, I knew very little about Jesus Christ,” explained Roopa. “When I came to Tarika I started reading the Bible and then understood what freedom really means and how much I mean to God.” (Check out an interview with Roopa, her parents, and several others here. This video snippet was originally featured on CBN, hosted by my friend George Thomas who also attended the Tarika graduation.)
I briefly touched on Roopa’s story in a blog post last July. I’m sharing more of Roopa’s account because Not Today, a film chronicling the plight of the Dalits, is being released in select markets across the country today. In many ways, Roopa’s life parallels Annika’s, the young Indian girl who steals the show in the movie.
In the film, overwhelmingly hungry Annika and her father Kiran appeal to wealthy tourist Caden for a meal. Caden, a twentysomething from Southern California, is visiting the country not to reach out to the less fortunate, but to party. Caden refuses to help Kiran and Annika, but his conscience begins to bother him. When he attempts to right his wrong, he discovers that Kiran has sold his daughter to traffickers. Caden then offers to help him track down his little girl.
Although Not Today tells a gripping story, it was never intended as simply a popcorn muncher. Instead, it was envisioned by staffers of Friends Church of Yorba Linda (Calif.) as a means to call people to pray, give and become involved in the plight of Dalits. Being in the Hollywood area, church leaders had numerous connections within the film industry. With God’s help, they were confident they could not only make a film, but they could do it well. I think they succeeded.
The seeds for the film were planted back in 2004 when an associate pastor at Friends Church twisted the senior pastor’s arm to build 10 schools in India. The pastor, Matthew Cork, agreed and even suggested the church build an additional 10. That was the end of Matt’s involvement—or so he thought. He repeatedly declined invitations to travel to India. But after prayer on his part (and much persistence by others), Matt eventually consented. On his first trip to India in 2007, Matt developed a deep passion for Dalits. Now believing he couldn’t sit idly by, Matt upped the ante, committing his congregation to a $20 million building project of 200 Dalit schools. Friends Church is well on its way to meeting that target, having built 42 to date.
By highlighting the plight of one father and one daughter on film, Friends Church is hoping (and praying) that filmgoers “experience” the broader picture of human trafficking globally. If that happens, I’m convinced the vision for 200 Dalit schools might increase significantly.
Very few people will be able to travel to India. But everyone can shell out a few bucks to attend a movie. I only wish more people could get a chance to see this PG-13 film, not just those who are privileged to have first crack at viewing. That could happen if box office numbers are respectable this weekend. (See the complete list of the 20 cities the movie’s currently playing here.)
Current estimates say there are 1.2 million trafficked “Annikas” in India alone. My prayer for Not Today is that the movie will help (through various means) establish more schools and more Tarika-like centers so that scores of rag pickers and trafficked young girls will find freedom, hope and Christ, like Roopa.
[Note: Due to subject matter, the film is recommended for teens on up.]
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