Stories of Hope
The sexual exploitation of children and young people in the Philippines and Southeast Asia ranks among the highest in the world. Sex trafficking is an inherent result of abject poverty, which leads to vulnerability, especially in rural areas.
Then there are those on the ground, in the trenches, as we say, combating, preventing, and saving victims one child at a time. A significant example is the Mary Queen of Heaven Missionaries. With the help of lay mission partners, diocesan clergy, and local community leaders, this group of sixteen Sisters travel deep into rural Philippine villages to attack the problem at its source.
This series of actual events will enlighten, inspire and hopefully encourage your support for all these angels of mercy. Please follow these remarkable missionaries dressed in PINK, the 'color of joy' as it's known in the Philippines.
The Mary Queen of Heaven Missionaries was established to address the cruelest result of impoverishment in the Philippines. Young girls being forced into the sex trafficking trade due to poverty. Girls ages 8 to 15 are locked in rooms and exposed to rape, diseases and murder. Many die quite young before they even have a chance to live. Through perfect love and charity, the determined nuns of MQHM have developed a two-fold plan to combat these atrocities:
We rescue children & young women, ages 8 and older, from prostitution.
We provide educational assistance to these survivors and to the rural poor of the Philippines.
Rescue Homes
HOME OF LOVE Philippines
We rescue as many women and children as possible and bring them to our ‘Home of Love’ in Tuburan, Cebu. Once there, they are safe, receive shelter and rehabilitation, while being educated and older girls are taught a respectable trade to provide for themselves and in many cases their families. We have a 93% success rate of residents who have changed their lives while in our care.
MY BONITA HOME FOR YOUNG GIRLS Philippines
My Bonita is our rescue house for young children who have been sexually abused, located in Talamban, Cebu. They receive the same services as our Home of Love residents and the response has been tremendous.
REGINA COELI HOME OF LOVE USA
Our rescue and rehabilitation Home in California, USA is newly operational and we have a mission to serve in America. California has the highest trafficking rate in the US and Los Angeles County is a hot spot. 72% of California victims are American Citizens.
Regina Coeli Education Program
We reach into the rural areas of the Philippines and offer children an education, as a preventative measure and a way out of the vicious cycle of poverty. This program is extremely successful in offering children with no means opportunities they would otherwise never be exposed to.
The environment of being in school also keeps them away from the handlers that roam the villages, promising families “good jobs” in the city for their children.
Mary Queen of Heaven has reached over 60,000 children since 2007, providing help with education and offering a path to a safe and meaningful life. 18,000 beneficiaries annually are now being served and attending school.
