From the press release:
First annual Aruna 5k to be held on Saturday, May 3, at 10 a.m. at the University of Illinois Arboretum.
The Aruna 5k presents the opportunity to run for women and children enslaved in the brothels of India.
In a two square mile area of India, an estimated 15,000 women and children are held captive in Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) — some as young as 11 years old. Aruna, a Hindi word meaning ‘bright morning sun’, is the name of an initiative in South Asia working to rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate these women and children back into society.
The Aruna 5K is a race held in cities across America, with all the proceeds from the event going to the Aruna Project. The Aruna Project is a relationally driven effort on the ground in India that seeks to free women and children from sexual exploitation. This is primarily done through relationships that the Aruna Project staff develops over time by means of daily visitations into the brothel system. They serve to rehabilitate these women and children through counseling, adult literacy classes, and skill and trade development, with the end goal of helping them to sustain lifelong freedom through dignified employment.
By registering to run, walk, or sponsor someone else to run in the Aruna 5K, you are actively helping set women free. The first annual Aruna 5K in Champaign-Urbana begins at 10 a.m. on May 3rd at the University of Illinois Arboretum. To register for the race or sponsor other runners, please visit www.Aruna5k.com. Every runner and dollar counts because every woman and child counts. Join us in running for their freedom.
Aruna 5k, Run for Their Freedom.