Mikayla Knizevski is making a Difference on the Map

Mikayla Knizevski pictured above with little girl, Namuron in 2013 

on a mission trip to Turkana Kenya

Whether she is here in the U.S. or just below in Nicaragua, College of Charleston junior Mikayla Knizevski is making a difference in the lives of victimized individuals, wherever she is on the map.

 Due to the low number of safe houses in our country, not to mention the world as a whole, Knizevski is determined to use her passion to increase this low number. Safe houses are a place for victims of sex trafficking to recover and, as Knizevski says, “get back on their feet.”

It started back when Charleston native Knizevski was just in 8^th grade. Not even in high school yet and her passion to travel out of the country was out of this world. Persistency was key, as Knizevski would visit the office of her church everyday begging to be a part of the mission trip heading to Nicaragua. “Most of the people were graduating high school, and I hadn’t even started yet,” Knizevski said. “I was the baby of the trip.” 

Knizevski in Los Cedros, Nicaragua 2009 (above)

Once given permission to go on the mission trip, Knizevski’s world began to change. “I fell in love with a new culture,” she said. The experience was unique mainly because the trip was designed for the members to be living with the people of Nicaragua. This enabled the students to really grasp what it is like in another culture.

 Knizevski has been to Nicaragua a total of five times now with her most recent trip this past summer, 2014, when she led a group of high schoolers on her own. This trip was in no way a routine one. You see, in between the times of travel and her time here in the U.S., Knizevski consumes herself in research on the history of Nicaragua. She came across a community called La Chureca. “It’s a dumpster. It is where all the trash goes in the community and people live there,” Knizevski said. “They live in the trash.” 

Knizevski at a special needs school in Matagalpa, Nicaragua 2014 (above)

 Even though she has not visited La Chureca specifically, being in other places in Nicaragua fed into a discovery. Knizevski would find herself asking “where are all the girls?” when she would visit regions of Nicaragua and see a countless number of homeless boys but no girls. She came to find out that young girls were prostituting themselves, either by choice or by force of their parents, in order to get money. 

Girls could sell their bodies, boys could not, hence the low number of females in the community. This helped Knizevski come to her conclusion when she began to understand the great number of sex trafficking that takes place. Knizevski used her newfound knowledge about sex trafficking and brought it here to the U.S. 

Before returning to her hometown of Charleston, S.C., Knizevski began her college career in Minneapolis, M.N. In Minneapolis, Knizevski was involved in a program called Breaking Free. This nonprofit provides a house for victimized women of sex trafficking. Knizevski and other volunteers would visit the house once a week, cook dinner, and simply be company for these women. “It was hard at first because you want these huge ‘breakthrough moments’ and testimonials from these girls,” Knizevski said. “But that is not really the case. They still have so many things that they haven’t healed from or been counseled through.”

Moving back to Charleston, S.C. after just one semester in Minneapolis, Knizevski continued her devotion to serving others. She is a member of A21 here in Charleston, which she says stands for “abolishing injustice in the 21^st century.”

Knizevski at a day care in Matagalpa, Nicaragua 2014 (above)

As mentioned before, Knizevski sees the need for sex trafficking awareness in the U.S. especially after attending a conference where she learned that over 300,000 children out of Atlanta, G.A. were victims of sex trafficking. Knizevski shared the fact that Charleston is also a hot spot due to the ports in the city. That is one of the many sparks that has ignited Knizevski’s passion to start her own safe house here in Charleston.

As a Communication major, Mikayla Knizevski sees the power of communication. “The power of conveying things and how it changes the way people believe things is something that I have taken a liking to,” she said. Knizevski finds creativity in her writing and, even if others don’t see it, in her painting as well.

Mikayla Knizevski looks to use her creativity in writing and her strength in social media to start her ambition of creating safe houses here in Charleston. She looks to combine the random and various things she loves to make it into something that will make a difference. Something Knizevski says we have never seen before here in the city of Charleston.

She is cultured, she is caring, she is creative, and she is taking these characteristics to fuel her dreams of creating safe houses. Mikayla Knizevski believes in bringing women out of the dark and giving them a light of hope. Thanks to Knizevski, one day we will see that hope in the city of Charleston.