Fauzi and Lima’s skydive supporting modern slavery survivors like themselves

The Salvation Army has been protecting and caring for survivors of slavery since our early beginnings in the 1880's. Today The Salvation Army provides invaluable specialist support for all adult victims of modern slavery in England and Wales, through a network of safe houses, outreach support and other services to help them rebuild their lives after exploitation and move to living independently and in freedom.

Two survivors of modern slavery, Fauzi* and Lima* who are currently receiving support from The Salvation Army have chosen to join Team Sally Army and skydive to raise vital funds to help other survivors and encourage other people to sign up for this challenge. Please donate to Fauzi and Lima, who have already shown tremendous bravery in sharing their stories, to give them a welcome boost in taking on this Skydive challenge.

Here’s why they want to help.

Fauzi was tricked into traveling to Qatar with false promises of well-paid work to help support his impoverished family back in Uganda. Forced to work 18 hour shifts day in day out in factories and construction sites with no breaks to eat or drink, Fauzi was often too exhausted to cook when he returned to the filthy, overcrowded camp he shared with 100’s of other men. Despite becoming ill, he didn’t give up and finally managed to get his passport back and escape by getting a position as an international volunteer with the Scouting movement. This brought him to the UK where he found the courage to talk about what had happened to him and was referred to The Salvation Army for help. Fauzi now lives in a safehouse run by The Salvation Army where his support worker is helping him to rebuild his life and overcome the fallout of his exploitation on his mental and physical health. Fauzi still worries about providing for his family in Uganda and finds it hard to trust people but is now more confident about his future.

Fauzi said:

Lima’s childhood full of love and happiness came to an abrupt halt when her parents arranged for her to marry a man and move with him to England. They believed his promises that Lima would be able to carry on studying to continue her dream of being a doctor. He was lying and Lima soon found that he wanted as a domestic servant not a wife. He locked her in the house, isolated her from family and friends and forced her to do all the household chores. Heartbroken, and too frightened to ask for help, the abuse turned into attacks and Lima’s health deteriorated. After a life-threatening asthma attack, she escaped to Bangladesh. Here she was even more danger. Her husband threatened to have her killed there because the authorities wouldn’t care, felt very real when a stranger tried to abduct Lima. She returned to tell the UK police her story. Recognised Lima as victim of domestic servitude, Lima was referred to The Salvation Army. She now lives in a safe house and her support worker is helping her to look at options to start to study.

*names changed to protect identities

The specialist support programme run by The Salvation Army is designed to preserve the dignity of survivors, protect and care for them in safe accommodation. But a modern slavery survivor not only needs immediate support but sustainable support. It costs just £50 for a counselling session. By raising £500 you could pay for 10 specialist and life-changing counselling sessions to help and support the mental welfare of survivors like Fauzi* and Lima*.

£10 could buy a gift pack of toiletries to welcome a survivor into a Modern Day Slavery Survivor Care Contract (MSVCC) safehouse

£20 could buy a bus pass to enable a survivor to begin the process of re- engaging with normal daytime activities

£60 could purchase a mobile phone and sim card when survivor first comes into the MSVCC service, enabling them to contact their service entitlements ie: GP, solicitor, counsellor, support workers etc

£100 could buy clothing and shoes including socks, underwear, T-shirt and jogging when a survivor arrives at a safehouse with no clothing

£200 could enable all the survivors of a safe house to enjoy and celebrate Christmas together including each survivor receiving a small gift

£200 could provide baby clothes, equipment including a pushchair for a survivor who has a child born to a mother being supported in a safe house

£500 could purchase household items including white goods when a survivor moves into their own home

£1,500 could fund 10 survivors on various activities in a safehouse including cooking, arts and crafts and other therapy courses

Fauzi – full story

Fauzi was born in a town in Uganda, bordering Kenya. His mother bought him and his four siblings up on her own, having to work multiple jobs to keep the family afloat. Money was always short. The family rarely ate more than once a day and there weren’t funds to allow Fauzi to continue with his education past secondary school. Wanting to help support the family, Fauzi told his mother he would go to Kampala in neighbouring Kenya to find work as this he had heard of people going abroad and earning lots of money.

A friend then recommended him to someone he knew who was rumoured to have lots of work available in Qatar in the run up to the Football World Cup in 2022. Fauzi went to meet the man in his busy office, where he was promised that he would get well-paid employment in Qatar, in sales or customer services, working five days a week with accommodation and food provided. He was told he would need a passport and some medical tests. However Fauzi could not afford to pay for them so the agency offered to arrange everything, explaining he would be able to pay them back with his earnings within a few months once he started work.

Shortly afterwards Fauzi was told that his documents were ready and his travel was booked for the next day. He started to be suspicious when his documents contained a negative COVID test which he had not taken. He was then given the names of people to report to at immigration when he arrived in Qatar. These men escorted him and 20 other men from Uganda through the airport, where they waited to be picked up and taken to their accommodation.

Now Fauzi was becoming seriously concerned. They arrived a dirty and overcrowded camp where hundreds of men were living, sharing just one bathroom and sleeping 25 to a room with just a blanket and no bed. Homesick and anxious, Fauzi called home and his mother begged him to return but he had neither ticket nor money to do so.

The next day his documents were taken from him, supposedly for safe keeping, and he was taken by bus to start work, not in sales but as a cleaner.

It was at this point that the Fauzi realised that he was stranded because as a cleaner he couldn’t hope to earn the money needed to pay off his debts, help his family or even get back to Uganda.

Things went from bad to worse. He and the other men were forced to work from very early in the morning to late at night, with no food or drink provided. Fauzi was only able to drink by sneaking water from the toilets without the supervisors noticing as this was considered as taking a break and would result in his pay being docked. Sometimes they worked on building sites; sometimes in factories and they were watched every moment of their shifts which often lasted 16 to 18 hours with no breaks allowed. By the time Fauzi got back to his accommodation at night he was too tired to eat and soon became ill with skin infections and chest pains. For months all his salary, apart from a small allowance to buy food, went straight to pay off his ‘loans’.

Fauzi was not going to give up. He went every day to the office, where he could see cupboards full of passports, to demand his documents back. Finally they gave in and, with his passport in his hands, Fauzi found an opportunity to apply for a position as an international volunteer with the Scouting movement and shortly after this found out he had been successful in being offered a place

Fauzi he had been too frightened and emotionally drained to report his current living and working conditions on his application form. However once he had received a visa to enter the UK as a volunteer, he found the courage to talk about what had happened to him and was referred for help as a victim of modern slavery. Fauzi now lives in a safehouse run by The Salvation Army where his support worker is helping him to rebuild his life and overcome the fallout of his exploitation on his mental and physical health. Fauzi still worries about providing for his family in Uganda and finds it hard to trust people.

Fauzi has responded amazingly well to the help he’s received and showed outstanding resilience, positivity and determination. In recent months he has successfully applied for asylum in the UK, overcoming the shortfall in Legal Aid solicitors by navigating the complicated process himself. He is feeling more confident about his future. He said:

He is delighted to take up the opportunity to participate in The Salvation Army’s Jump for Freedom Skydiving activity to raise funds for its work with survivors of modern slavery like himself. He explains his reasons for wanting to help in this way.

Lima - Full Story

Lima describes her childhood in Bangladesh as perfect. She loved life with her family and made the most of every opportunity offered to her at school, trying out new activities and sports. Lima was someone who always said ‘yes’ to a new challenge. She got top marks in all her subjects but tried particularly hard at science because she dreamed of being a doctor.

When, in her second year of college, her parents arranged for her to marry a man who lived in the UK, she hoped her new husband would allow her to carry on studying, because that was what he had promised her family. He was lying.

Lima soon found that he wanted a domestic servant and someone to give him children, not a wife or a relationship with mutual understanding and respect. She was forced to do all the household chores and forbidden to leave the house, often locked in by her husband. Lima was heartbroken but too frightened and isolated to ask for help. He wouldn’t let her talk to her friends and she didn’t want to upset her parents. Instead she dug deep and tried to make the best of the situation.

Not once did Lima’s husband treat her as a wife, or even a fellow human being. He took from her what he wanted and refused her any freedom at all. When she asked for some money or to go out, he fought with her. Over time Lima’s health deteriorated, especially her asthma which was aggravated by her husband’s excessive smoking.

Then Lima discovered that he was seeing another woman. She spoke to her sister-in-law who advised her that things would improve if she could get pregnant. Her husband was furious when he found out and the attacks got worse. At night he would taunt her in bed by saying the name of his girlfriend.

One day everything came to a head when Lima, anxious and alone, had a very bad asthma attack. Unable to breathe and fearing she would die, Lima called an ambulance. The crew stayed with her for hours to help her recover as she was too fearful to go to hospital. When her husband came home that night he was simply angry she hadn’t prepared him any food. Lima was at breaking point.

So Lima managed to get back to Bangladesh to stay with friends while she planned her next steps. At first her husband reported her as missing to the police but when he realised where she was he sent threats to her that he would hire people in Bangladesh to kill her.

Then one day when out with friends in a shopping mall a man she didn’t know grabbed Lima’s arm and tried to drag her away. She decided to return to the UK where she hoped the police would take her seriously so she asked her friend for money to escape back.

On arrival she told the police what was happening to her and they recognised that Lima had been kept in domestic servitude. They referred her to The Salvation Army who brought her to a safe house hundreds of miles from where her husband lived. Lima is beginning to dream again and her support worker is helping her to look at options to start to study. She would like to be a nurse.

Lima says yes to all the activities on offer at the safe house from outings and beauty nights and makes good use of the gardens, craft room, gym and sensory room. She is turning back into the old Lima who would say ‘yes’ to any new challenge, even skydiving.

Lima is naturally a little nervous about how high the jump will be but is comforted to know she will be attached to a professional.