Media Release 

Mangaluru, Nov 14: Sr Jyoti Pinto BS, former superior general, general councillor and provincial superior of Northern Province was awarded at the 10th General Assembly of Talitha Kum (International Network of Consecrated Life against Trafficking in Persons) for pioneering the work of Talitha Kum in South Asia. 

Talitha Kum is an initiative of UISG (International Union of Superiors General) to combat human trafficking. 

While Sr Jyoti was the superior general of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany, she represented Conference of Religious (CRI) India at the UISG meeting in Rome in 2007. She was awakened to the heart rending realities of modern slavery, such as human trafficking at this meeting when she heard the life stories of victims of trafficking. 

She was inspired with the scripture “I have come that they may have life; life in its fullness,” (John 10:10) and decided to act upon the inspiration. She motivated other religious congregations especially in South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India to join hands to combat this heinous crime called human trafficking. She invited members from Talitha Kum Rome to come to India and motivate various congregations to work together. 

In pursuit of this endeavour, the birth of AMRAT (Asian Movement of Women Religious Against Human Trafficking) took place in November 2009 in the first workshop held from November 18 to 25, 2009 at Raia, Goa under the leadership and hard work of Sr Jyoti. Thus, she became the founder of AMRAT – Talitha Kun South Asia. 

She worked very hard to motivate the superiors by visiting them personally, through telephonic calls and emails to join AMRAT and to send their members to be part of this network. She continues to guide and inspire the initiative of AMRAT and is a motivating factor.