It would be 22 years before Appa Rao got to experience all the little things that freedom brings.

Day after day, Sayamma waited for her father. 

She waited through sleepless nights, wondering why he’d left without even saying goodbye. 

What she didn’t know was that her father, Appa Rao, had stepped off a train to buy tea on his way to a promised job — a job that would help him earn extra money to provide beyond his family’s basic necessities.

But before he could get back on the train, it left without him. Soon, he was lost in an unfamiliar place where he couldn’t speak the language. He met a man who offered help… but instead, manipulated him into bonded labour.

 And so, Sayamma lived, reaching for a father who couldn’t reach back.

 No father to bless her as her family grew. No grandfather to teach her sons the old songs. No father to comfort her when her mother died. 

It was twenty-two years of little things that she could never get back.

And it was the same for Appa Rao, trapped in slavery. 

During the day, he would dig holes for crops until his hands bled and herd sheep across endless fields — all for no pay and only one meal a day. He was constantly looking over his shoulder for the owner, terrified of a possible beating if even one sheep went missing. 

At night, when he lay down to sleep, his thoughts always wandered back to his family. There was always an ache when he thought about them, wondering, “Why did this happen to me?”
 

Meanwhile, his family began searching for him. They filed reports. They traveled to nearby cities, asking everyone if they had seen him. Officials trained by IJM were searching too, inspecting local farms for signs of bonded labour. 

Then, in January 2025 — yes, just 10 months ago — those officials found Appa Rao. 

Twenty-two years after he disappeared, they found him during a formal inspection. 

“I was not scared,” he remembers. “[They] were all there with me always.” They brought him to safety and gave him his Release Certificate — official proof that he was finally, legally free. 

Then, officials started searching for his family. They contacted media outlets and worked with local organizations. They refused to let his story end with rescue alone.
 

Just a few months later, Sayamma’s husband, Chendu, was scrolling through his phone when a video popped up about a man rescued from slavery, looking for his family. He saved it to show his wife. 

“When I showed her the video, she immediately started crying. She said, ‘Yes, this is my father.’” 

And on March 14, 2025, it was all over. Sayamma stopped waiting and finally saw her father for the first time in twenty-two years. 

Thanks to your belief that all people should be free and your generous support over the past year, this reunion was possible.

With your help, we were able to train local authorities, execute rescue operations, and provide the comprehensive work that restores survivors to freedom. 

Now, Appa Rao’s life is filled with the little things he missed so dearly. Like warm tea in the stillness of the morning. A special snack time with Chendu at 4 p.m. Playing catch with little Lokesh. Dinner with everyone around the table, where Sayamma cooks his favorite fish curry. 

“His presence makes a difference,” Sayamma says simply. “All these years, we did not have any elders in the house, but now he is here and we eat together. That’s the best time.”

Yet there are still many families separated from each other. Violence, exploitation, and slavery are stealing their freedom and all the little joys that come with it. 

This Christmas, will you help restore the little things that freedom brings? With your care and generosity, even more families can reunite, come home, and start rebuilding their lives with simple, inexpressible joy.