In July 2004 registered children’s charity The Esther Benjamins Trust (EBT) rescued nine year old Maya (pictured) from a violent Indian circus. Trafficked there from Nepal, ostensibly to become a performer, for two years she had been in the clutches of circus owner Raza Khan (also pictured) who drew his pistol in a bid to stop our rescue. He failed and Maya joined our children’s refuge in Kathmandu. Since then she has been in the full time care of the Trust and last September left school to train as a health assistant, funded by EBT. Maya has also become an accomplished distance runner and on the 30th May 2011 will be coming to UK from Kathmandu with Trust Founder Philip Holmes to take part in “Maya’s Run” (aka The BUPA 10km) in London. We want to field a team that will raise £10,000 for the training and support of other young people who, like Maya, will leave the refuge soon and need a vital helping hand into adult life.

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