A Letter from Soraya

Three years ago, at the age of 19, I was just getting out of a drug rehab center, had not finished high school, and had no clue what I was going to do with my life. But I was one of the fortunate few who were accepted into the Omid-e-Mehr program.

A few months ago I graduated from the program.

Much has happened in these three years. The highlights I remember most are that I received my high school diploma; received my IELTS level 6 internationally English language certificate; received my internationally recognized ICDL certificate for the computer skills I have acquired; completed my advanced accounting course and received my TVTO accounting certificate from the Iranian Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs; learned about the law and my rights both as an individual and as a women; visited every major museum in Tehran; been on many field trips around Iran to see both monuments and nature (the picture you see is from last year's trip to the Caspian); made many new friends; and found out what it feels like to be on top of the world.

I now believe in myself, am working full-time in the accounting department of a wonderful company in Tehran and live with two of my friends from Omid-e-Mehr in a small apartment. The future looks wonderful. Three years ago I did not think any of this was possible. For me the most important thing that has happened is that today I have a choice, a choice to decide what I want to do with my life, and the tools to succeed in whatever I choose to do.

None of this would have been possible without the Omid-e-Mehr. None of this would have happened without people like you supporting the Omid-e-Mehr. Words can not express what you have done for me. This is just to say thank you and to wish you the very best for the holidays.

Omid-e-Mehr will always need your support. Your support has helped me change my life. You can give the same gift of life that you have given me to thousands of other girls who truly need it.

Soraya

Helping women stay engaged in society

The Omid-e-Mehr Foundation began in 2004 as a privately-funded charity to provide emotional and practical support for severely disadvantaged young women in Tehran. These are women who are faced with relentless emotional and financial deprivation. They are desperately vulnerable to anti-social influences, and struggle to remain engaged in society....to learn more click here

Leila's Story

As many of you know I spent the last year in Iran working at Omid-e-Mehr an organization who gives deserving young women a chance to a new life.  Bellow is the incredible story of one the young girls who has changed my life.
At age 9, her family sold her to a man who forced her into prostitution. At 18, she was arrested and sentenced to death for adultery, while her pimp only paid a fine.

In Iran, women can drive, vote and own property. They also can be legally independent from male relatives -- a status that is rare in the rest of the region, where the male-dominant tenets of Islam and tribal culture often subjugate women.
Yet Iran's legal system also codifies traditions that confer second-class status for women. A woman's testimony in court is worth half that of a man's. A girl is considered an adult under the law at age 9, but the age for boys is 13. The laws also deny women equal rights in divorce, custody and inheritance.

But Layla's story -- a young woman forced into prostitution and condemned to death for it -- is extraordinary in how it turned out.
Her fate changed when Ms. Sadr, a crusading lawyer on women's rights in Iran, walked into her cell and saved her. Layla's ruddy face carries an easy smile, and the sparkle in her eyes offers no hint of the harshness of her past.
"When I was little, I didn't have any dreams for my life," said Layla. "All my life, people hurt me ... until Shadi came. Now, each day is better than the last."

Today Leila is 22. She is being taken care of at Omid-e-Mehr Foundation  in Tehran. A beacon of light on a landscape which offers compassion to abused and destitute young women. Omid-e-Mehr is a rarity in Iran because it provides a way for girls to escape the shackles of their past and not be defined by it.
Social workers are teaching Layla to read and do math. She gets to draw and paint with her friends. She goes on field trips to the mountains outside Tehran, and to see a movie once a week. Most of all, she feels safe to dream about the future she wants — about finding love and starting a real family.
"It's difficult to be a girl in Iran. You survive by learning to tolerate what life brings you. That was what my life was like in the past," said Layla. "Now I dream about making myself happy, about having the whole world brought to me on a silver platter."
 
Click here to listen as Leila tells you her story

Omid-e-Mehr has saved Leila and 140 other deserving young women with similar stories.  They will only be able to thrive and to continue with their work by the generosity of other people and their belief in Omid-e-Mehr’s capacity to change these girl’s lives.

You can help make a difference click here to learn more about how you can get involved

The Glass House

The fringes of Iranian society can be a lonely place, especially if you are a teenage girl with few resources to fall back on. The Glass House follows four girls striving to pull themselves out of the margins by attending a one-of-kind rehabilitation center Omid-e-Mehr in uptown Tehran.
Forget about the Iran that you’ve seen before.
The Directors Hamid Rahmanian and Melissa Hibbard takes you deep into the lives of these four girls as they courageously tell their stories while they struggle for their uncertain futures. It is the untold story of young women who have been cast aside by their society. They have been abandoned, abused and neglected by their country and their families. With no resources, they had no hope of ever improving their lives, until they come to Omid-e-Mehr.
With a virtually invisible camera, the girls of The Glass House take us on a never-before-seen tour of the underclass of Iran with their brave and defiant stories; Samira struggles to overcome forced drug addiction; Mitra harnesses abandonment into her creative writing; Sussan teeters on a dangerous ledge after years of sexual abuse; and Nazila burgeons out of her hatred with her blazing rap music. This groundbreaking documentary reflects a side of Iran few have access to or paid attention to: a society lost to its traditions with nothing meaningful to replace them and a group of courageous women working to instill a sense of empowerment and hope into the minds and lives of otherwise discarded teenage girls.

For more information about Omid-e-Mehr or how to get involved click here 

To learn more about the movie or how to purchase the Glass House go to  http://www.fictionvillestudio.com/