Reflections from Cambodia Part 4: Nita

February 4th, 2012

In May (2011) we planned to have 8 artisans in our Aoi Chat project – 2 boys and 6 girls. However, two girls and one boy left before our project started. One boy named Sok Pat (*the names of all of the artisans have been changed in the interest of maintaining confidentiality) left within the first two weeks to study at a local vocational college. Another girl, Nita, had to leave Safe Haven as her guardians engaged her to marry. Finally, one girl named Sophally left suddenly to work in Thailand with no prior notice to staff or her family. Leng and I tried to follow-up with her family, but they did not have any contact information in order to reach her, and did not know the nature (or location) of her work in Thailand. Please pray for her and her work, as we cannot find any information on her wellbeing.

Our project began with 5 participants (4 girls and 1 boy). This group ranges between the ages of 14 to 17. Houn (our one boy) and Navy have been at Safe Haven for the longest – almost 2 years. Charmran arrived at Safe Haven about 1 year ago. Srey Neang and Srey Keo are the newer additions, having lived at Safe Haven for about 5 months.

All of the artisans are at-risk of being trafficked. They have grown up in poverty in the slums and villages surrounding Poipet City. Their houses consist mainly of a platform of bamboo, with a slanted roof to provide shelter from the rain and sun. In most cases, 5-8 family members share this living space. Only one of our artisans has both of her parents living – the others either have one biological parent or are orphans.

In the beginning of May, Leng and I were at Safe Haven, visiting with the artisans and talking to them about the upcoming project plan and schedule. We were standing outside of the sewing room when two motos pulled in through the front gate. We saw Nita (one of our artisans who had visited home for the past week) and her mother, stepfather and uncle. Leng and I watched as they approached the sewing office. The artisans also came out to welcome Nita back. She greeted them and came to stand next to me, slipping her hand into mine and hugging me from behind. I squeezed her hand back and smiled.

As we talked with Nita’s parents, it became apparent that they did not plan to have her back at Safe Haven. On the contrary, they had found a man for her to marry and wanted her to come home to prepare for married life. She is 16 years old. Leng pulled out three chairs from the sewing room and they sat down. Nita’s mother was drunk and she spoke incoherently while the stepfather kept coughing up flem that he spat onto the grass. Her uncle, the village chief, said he had accompanied the two to make sure that they didn’t cause trouble at Safe Haven. Both of Nita’s mother and stepfather are alcoholics. I stood silently, hugging Nita back as she wrapped her arms around my middle and listened to Leng talk with them. They said that they were firm that Nita should marry.

Leng and I took Nita aside and talked with her in private. We asked her to think over the idea of getting married – did she really want to get married or were her parents pressuring her into it? Did she know the man? How old was he? We asked her to please tell us the truth, and we would do all we could to convince her parents not to force the issue. Each time we asked, she shook her head and said that it was okay, she wanted to get married.

Nita’s mother and stepfather also wanted Srey Keo to return home, and said that they had come to collect her. Leng and I automatically felt strongly against this, as we knew she had been a target of abuse back home in her village. If she were to return, it would be undoubtedly returning to abuse. I am particularly concerned about Srey Keo because she rarely makes eye contact. She always has her shoulders hunched and her face down. She rarely smiles and she rarely talks. Leng immediately began explaining to them about the programme we were setting up at Safe Haven, and about providing the girls a wage for making jewelry. He told them about the bank accounts that would be set up in their name and the financial burden that would be lifted from the mother and stepfather if they left Srey Keo at Safe Haven (provided with food, shelter, clothes, a vocational skill from Freedom Stones and a wage). In the end, they agreed to let Srey Keo stay at Safe Haven until the end of the project. Leng translated for me afterwards that Srey Keo’s mother wanted to use the wage from jewelry production to buy herself more alcohol. I focused on remaining thankful that she was within our care for the time being – and it would give us a chance to figure out what could be a safe next step for her after the programme.

I am concerned about Nita’s upcoming marriage and the character of her husband, as neither Leng nor I (nor Nita) have met him or know any details about him. Leng and I tried every angle to convince Nita to wait, to join the Freedom Stones programme and consider being married after – but with no success. I’m not sure to what degree she feels pressured by her parents and wants to make them happy or how genuinely she wants to get married. Please pray for her.

A Message from Leng

January 24th, 2012

 

Amy, make sure you e-mail Kara so you can claim your prize! You have until Friday at midnight. Congratulations again on winning!

I am excited to share this next blog post. This post was written by Leng the CHO (Cambodian Hope Organization) project coordinator in Poipet, Cambodia. He is Cambodian so English is his second language. We’ve left this post mostly unedited so that you can read it in it’s original form. It’s so encouraging to read about the positive things that are happening with the artisans there.

2011-

In January, my director told me that I had to work with one girl from Freedom Stones to partner with CHO and that I will learn more from her also. But I hadn’t met her yet and I asked myself t 1- Who is Allison? 2- How old is she? 3- How can I work with her? 4- Is she a gentle or not? And later he called me have a meeting with Allison in his office. He told me, this is Allison that I have to work with. I said hello to her and nice to meet you. In the meeting he allowed Allison and I share in office together. It is great to meet Allison and work with her. The answers were, 1- Allison, she look like Asian. 2- I agree she is young, but her idea are clever. 3- Although, we have difference culture our work went smoothly. 4- She is not only a gentle but she did incredible work in her project.

I remembered that when I meet her in the first time, I got a lot of questions from her about the project.  We went out to the community to see the CHO’s project and in that time we prepared a lot of stuff for working with artisans like: preparing the schedule and discussed with trainer about how many days we will work with them and also prepared the baseline survey for ask the children. We went to Safe Haven to meet with artisans to introduce ourselves. We got 8 artisans, 6 girls and 2 boys attended this project.

The first meeting with them, we didn’t start the project 100%, because they felt scared with us and they always looked down, didn’t want to talk, no smiling and quiet. We tried to get close with them during our work by being encouraging, fun and showing love to them. After that we feel they accepted us. They tried to speak with us and have eyes contact with each other by smiling. They said that, it is fun to work with Allison and teacher Leng.

After that they accepted us and we started to do a baseline survey with all of them. We started with 2 objectives; teach them how to make jewelry and holistic skills training. It is great that this project was prepared in detail to make them grow and change. We got three days for this project to operate, two day for production and one day for holistic skill. They not only learned about the skill but they had learned about their life to use in the future. About holistic skills training we taught them 4 subjects including: Finance, Mental and Social Health, Physical Health, and Human Rights Knowledge. They learned something from these subjects every week. We also did pre/post test during lesson. They also participated in a practical exam with a trip to the community by sharing their knowledge to people in the community that they didn’t do that before. During the trip to the community, they asked us why we wanted them to teach children in the village but we explained that they didn’t do it before, they should try and then it will make them change. Yes actually after they practice in the community they enjoyed with teaching the children. For the jewelry, we have taught them how to make it and have paid them a wage based on how many pieces they made.

During the time we have worked with them until the project finish, we saw that they changed physically and emotionally if we compared from the beginning until now. After the project finishes we would like to continue to see them grow more and build their self-esteem.

We Have a Winner!

January 22nd, 2012

And the randomly drawn winner is…#17!! Amy!

Amy said: I love green and so my eyes are drawn to the Global Green Diversity necklace or the Pure Green Planet. They both are so beautiful. But I would also love to get the Freedom Stones clasp earrings. I love the message of the broken handcuffs.

Amy, if you will e-mail Kara at kara@freedomstones.ws, she will send you the gift certificate! Congratulations!

We really appreciate all of the entries and the support you have given this past week. Keep checking the Facebook page for future contests and blog posts!

Giveaway

January 16th, 2012

Hello everyone! Happy New Year! I am excited to announce that we will be giving away a $35 Freedom Stones gift certificate to a lucky reader this week! All you have to do to enter is to browse through the Freedom Stones store and leave a comment here on the blog page telling us your favorite piece of jewelry and why!

One entry per reader, please. The contest will run until Saturday (1/21)  at 11:59 pm. The winner will be announced shortly after that. Good luck!

 

Reflections from Cambodia Part III: Srey Ma

December 9th, 2011

Freedom Stones’ Intern, Allison Louie

Srey Ma's Home

Srey Ma (*this name has been changed in the interest of maintaining confidentiality) lives in ”Handicapped Village” – a village in Poipet designated for those disabled or living with HIV/AIDS. As her father was in the Cambodian army fighting the Khmer Rouge, the government gave him a small piece of land in this village. Her father has one leg because of an exploded landmine, and he constantly drinks at home. Her mother is an alcoholic as well, and both of her parents are physically violent towards each other and towards the children. Srey Ma has 7 siblings, and is the oldest in her family. Being the elder sibling comes with a range of responsibilities – the firstmost being a provider for one’s family. Both of Srey Ma’s parents push large wooden carts to Thailand for money – these carts are filled with goods and sold in the Aranyaprathet market across the Thai border. Vendors pay individuals to push these carts across the border for them, and the job requires heavy physical labour. In Srey Ma’s case, a large portion of whatever income is made is spent on her parents’ drinking habits. (In spite of this, Srey Ma made 19,500 KHR [equivalent to $4.88 USD] during Soul Action bracelet production, mentioned in our last blog. She gave all to her mother and asked for $1.00 back, to buy a pair of sandals.)

Srey Ma is 18 years old, but only has a grade 5 education. Studying was made difficult at home because of her parents’ sporadic, sudden violence and the extra responsibilities of taking care of siblings that her parents neglected.

Her house is a platform of bamboo strung together, with a slanted thatched roof. There is no door; it is open to the outside and provides shade in the sun but little protection against the rain.

A couple of years ago, a middle man came to persuade her parents to have her work in Malaysia. Given their living conditions and inadequate income, her parents agreed, however Srey Ma was trafficked to a brothel in Phnom Penh instead. She was able to escape and make it back to Poipet, but lost all of her identification papers and documents as they were confiscated by the middle man in Phnom Penh.

We first met Srey Ma in our Cambodian partner organization’s sewing class, in the village. She was brought to our attention by one of the sewing managers, because of being trafficked to Phnom Penh. We were worried that she didn’t escape before something deeply traumatic happened to her, and we’re still not sure about what happened there. Srey Ma does not like to talk about it, so we do not press her on the issue.

We heard that Srey Ma stopped attending the sewing class – and she did not come to make many bracelets for the Soul Action production. I thought she would be happy for this opportunity to make money, and be sure to be present. Leng and I were concerned, so we visited her house. Srey Ma was home and cooking rice for her family – we asked her what she planned to eat that day, and she said fish sauce with a bit of rice. She was very grateful to receive the fried chicken we brought her (from the Soul Action end-of-production debriefing get together).

Srey Ma's bicycle

Srey Ma’s bicycle – the only bicycle in the family – was broken, so Leng and I took her to get it fixed and talk with her more about her life and living conditions. She told us about the random but frequent outbursts of violence her parents have – to each other or to the children. Sometimes, for example, her father may come home from drinking late at night, beat the children (who awake suddenly from their sleep), and kick them out from the house. She also told us that her mom had plans to take her to work in Thailand in 3 months. Given the acquiescence of her parents to the last middle man, Leng and I thought this would put her at a large risk of being trafficked.

We started looking for work for Srey Ma, and asked her for her ideas. She mentioned a factory that some people from her village worked at, and between Freedom Stones’ production preparation and Soul Action wrap-up, we went there to investigate. The jewelry box factory was clean, had good lighting, and required an 8-hour working day with adequate breaks and a fair, lawful wage. After inspecting the factory and having a few meetings with the manager there, we brought Srey Ma over to fill in an application. A couple of days later, Srey Ma was called in for work – which she had to deny because of having to take care of her younger brothers and sisters. It took a few more meetings with her parents to discuss the different options of childcare so that Srey Ma would be able to work. Eventually, we were able to reconnect her with the factory manager and she was able to begin. We periodically check in with Srey Ma – she feels better about herself now that she can work and provide for her family. However, she still has issues with her parents and their abusive behaviour. She has had the opportunity to leave her home to live at a shelter, but she is committed to her siblings and will not leave without them. We hope that her parents will consider the options we’ve discussed with them including the relocation of Srey Ma, her siblings, and potentially her mother, to a crisis shelter. Here, they would be able to have a safe place to live and study and the opportunity to pursue further education. Leng and I have encouraged and informed Srey Ma and her family on the options available to them, but we have acknowledged that in the end any further step is their decision and not our own. It is evident that change is difficult, and it’s hard to part from one’s family despite the hurt one may experience. Please pray for Srey Ma and her family.

Reflections on Cambodia (Part II)

November 25th, 2011

Bracelets and Hang Tags Produced for Soul Action Project

Allison Louie – Summer 2011

From April to May 2011, Freedom Stones coordinated jewelry bracelet-making production for Soul Action (on behalf of Tearfund UK). Students from Cambodian Hope Organization’s two sewing classes in the nearby villages and one sewing class for teens at the Safe Haven made the bracelets. We had 38 students in total making friendship bracelets, and 3 sewing managers to help supervise. Leng, from Cambodian Hope Organization, Nikki a volunteer from the UK, and I managed this production coordinating everything from string calculations to quality training to productivity tracking.

Before production and during training, the quality standards were taught and reviewed with the students. Staff made sure to explain to them that only pieces that were made up to quality standard would be paid for. From speaking to artisans, it was clear that the most challenging aspect of the project was the period before becoming skilled.

Bracelet Production for Soul Action Project

Most were discouraged at the start, especially when some of their bracelets were rejected for quality issues, but it proved to be a positive learning opportunity for the students as they were challenged to commit to a quality standard of work. We had two debriefing sessions with the artisans. To thank them for their hard work, we organized a small party for them and used it as a chance to ask for their feedback on the production process. The artisans reflected that it was difficult at first while they were learning, but as time went on, production became easier.

Managers in the project reported that the artisans looked noticeably more happy after receiving pay. They came to work with new clothes and felt good about providing money to their families. The production provided them an opportunity to contribute to their family’s income and the managers believe this increased the artisans’ sense of self-worth. When asked what they would spend their wages on, many artisans said they planned to give it to their parents, a single parent or grandparents. Others had decided to give half to their families, and use the rest to pay school fees, buy new clothes, shoes, rice, kitchen materials and school uniforms.

Artisans

The project was a success – Soul Action received 6000 bracelets in good order, on time, and used them for their summer festival in the UK.  The bracelets sold out, leading to a follow up order later in the summer.  All of the students involved were paid in full on a per-piece basis and were very happy to receive their well-earned wages.

Reflections from Cambodia

November 17th, 2011

July 2011

Leng and Allison at Safe Haven

Sudden showers and sludge-caked roads akin to the consistency of thick peanut butter are the hallmarks of July through September in Poipet. It means an interesting trip to the village and/or Safe Haven, and more than once Leng and I have found ourselves sprawled in the muck after a tumble off our moto. After a moment of stunned silence we always find ourselves laughing.

Freedom Stones has now established our partnership with CHO and we are planning to start working with 8 teens living in their shelter for children called “Safe Haven”. I will be collaborating with Sok Leng In (or “Leng” for short) from CHO, and we are busy with research and preparation for the project. This project will be a pilot for Freedom Stones in Cambodia, and will be comprised of both holistic skills training and jewelry production. The project itself will run for 4 months, but there is much research and development to be done before commencement. Freedom Stones will also be engaging Sreysor, the sewing manager at Safe Haven, to help with jewelry training and production.

Aoi Chat came to be our project name as in Khmer it means “to give the umbrella”. Considering the daily reminder of how important an umbrella is in the event of a sudden shower, we thought it appropriate to relate it to our project in the context of protection and relief.

The artisans are training to produce the a new braided pendant necklace for the month of July and August, and will produce the newly designed red and purple necklaces for September. They are excited to be making a wage that they can save. We have agreed with the artisans that they will save 80% of the money they make in the bank, and receive 20% of what they make directly, for pocket money. Leng and I have made numerous trips back and forth to the bank to set up their accounts so we’re looking forward to teaching them about personal banking, and about how to spend and save money wisely. This will be especially important for after they leave Safe Haven, when they have access to their accounts and may spend or save their money as they wish.

Update from Allison in Cambodia

March 1st, 2011

I’m now living in Poipet, near the offices of Cambodia Hope Organization. This past week I have met the group at Safe Haven that we will be working with – they are a shy but sweet group of 14 to 17 year olds. They are excited about learning a new skill in their free time after class.

I’m working closely with CHO staff member Sok Leng to determine the right product for both Freedom Stones and CHO. A couple of factors affect our potential conclusions. First, we want the skill taught to be a sustainable one that the artisans can use for income generation after they leave Safe Haven and return to their villages. Second, we need the product to be able to sell overseas in order to fund this project and pay the artisans their wages. In other words, we need to determine what product would be best for Freedom Stones and CHO to invest in, because the item will need to have an export market.

We are currently looking into two types of products in particular: coconut shell jewelry and silk products (scarves, wallets, bags). Please see below images for some sample ideas.

Coconut necklace 1

Coconut necklace 2

Silk scarf 1

Silk scarf 2

Silk Bag 1 (Red)

Silk Bag 2 (Blue)

We would very much appreciate your help in determining what type of product to focus on. Please complete a short, 10-question market survey on these images.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/59B972J

Your input would be greatly appreciated, and will bring new insights to this research.

If you would like to donate directly to help start up this project please click here and donate to Cambodian Hope Organisation- Local Handicraft Projects

Thank you!

Research for start-up of Cambodia Project

January 4th, 2011

Blog from Allison, our new intern, on her visit to Camboida

Posted January 04, 2011

Poipet is a dusty Khmer town on the Cambodia-Thailand border, spliced by a long, main road with honking cars and mopeds speeding by. Earlier this month I travelled to Poipet with Lucy Watkins, the Southeast Asia Regional Director of Freedom Stones, and Sara Wilson, an anti-trafficking colleague providing creative advice. Since my arrival to Thailand in late November, Lucy and her husband James have kindly put me up in their home as I learn first-hand from Lucy about the project Freedom Stones is managing in Pattaya along with Pattaya Slums Ministries. As there is a possibility of Freedom Stones partnering with Cambodia Hope Organization (CHO), Lucy and I and have since travelled to Poipet to meet with Director Chomno and his CHO staff.

My first impression of Poipet was its nature as a go-through town as opposed to a go-to town. Poipet may see many tourists as they exit the Thai border, but only as they quickly board buses to frequent more popular locations such as Siem Reap (home of Angkor Wat) and Phnom Penh. What may be considered the main attraction for foreigners (including Thais) in Poipet is the group of large casinos edging the border: gambling is illegal in Thailand, so this location serves as a convenient and nearby solution. These casinos often employ bar girls as prostitutes.

Poipet is a porous border crossing, and as such is unfortunately a hub for illegal activities such as human trafficking. Cambodia Hope Organization operates in this community as a grassroots response to at-risk as well as formerly trafficked individuals.

The children at CHO’s safehouse smiled shyly at us and conversed in whispered giggles when we popped our heads into their classrooms during school. At first glance, one would not know that the lives of these children have been touched with tragedy. And yet, the stories that they have walked already in their young lives seemed beyond human resilience. Some of the children were as young as 3, and had been trafficked into street gangs to beg for money in Thailand. Others had been injected with diseases, which had physically and mentally disabled them. This was done to enable their employers to make more money from begging. Putting it into perspective: someone along the trafficking line had sacrificed a child’s limb capacity for a few more dollars.

And yet still the children smile, and they’re full of life and amazing in their own way. It gave me hope and a stronger conviction that these children are to be valued, cherished, protected and empowered.

CHO also runs a community foster care program, and is currently constructing a home for women exiting the sex industry. Additionally, it administers a variety of projects such as “School on a Mat”, vocational skills training (wood-work, metal-work, and motorcycle repair), sewing, micro-enterprise, agriculture and animal husbandry, and community trafficking awareness presentations. After consulting with CHO on their needs and the ways in which Freedom Stones could fill in the gaps, development manager Rothana took us around to visit CHO’s different project sites.




One of the concerns that CHO expressed to us was the lack of jobs in the community and thus the financial insecurity that individuals face each day. Poverty puts people at great risk of being trafficked. Traffickers posing as prospective employers may offer work in Thailand when none can be found in economically stagnant towns such as Poipet. Once in a foreign land and cut off from family and friends, these individuals may be put into forced labour, shuffled into the sex industry, or physically incapacitated and made to beg on the streets for street gangs. If Thai authorities find trafficked Cambodian nationals, they may send them back to Cambodia to be repatriated; however, the process can be lengthy and the exploited individual may very well spend time in a Thai jail before coming full circle back to Cambodia. Even upon return, the individual will still face the same poverty-affected community with little economic opportunity and is again vulnerable to being exploited. Human trafficking does not operate under age constraints; on the contrary, children are often targeted because of the ease with which they can be manipulated and moved. By providing jobs with CHO, Freedom Stones would be contributing to both the prevention of human trafficking and the sustainable reintegration of those formerly trafficked.

Lucy and I conducted local consultations (in addition to our meetings with CHO) as part of our research into finding out what an appropriate product to make would be, not only in terms of making a marketable product overseas but also making a product that would give individuals useful, transferrable skills to use in the future.


To get a larger picture of the anti-trafficking work in Cambodia and the current gaps in terms of services along the at-risk, in-crisis, in-care, and reintegration progression, we also visited and consulted with various NGOs in Phnom Penh. Chab Dai is one such organization based in Phnom Penh. It is a network of over fifty Christian organizations engaged in anti-trafficking work in Cambodia and particularly involves itself in the awareness of what services are being provided by different organizations. The take-home message: a viable economic alternative is crucial to preventing and combating human trafficking.

My journey continues as I will be returning to Poipet in the New Year and living there until November to help set up the new project with CHO. Watch this space!

Freedom Stones Mentioned in ACU News!

September 8th, 2010

ACU graduates fighting human trafficking abroad

Posted September 06, 2010

Leah Jones-Knippel (’99) began her ACU experience long before her college career officially began. The projects she took part in at a young age while at ACU’s Leadership Camps set her down a path to become a servant leader as a college student and beyond.

Leah Knippel

Before her senior year at ACU and then again after graduation, Jones-Knippel spent summers abroad with a church planting team in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

“I discovered the problem of sex trafficking in Thailand and determined that my ministry was to help women and children and to stop the injustice against these innocent victims,” says Jones-Knippel.

She continued her work while at Rahab Ministries, an organization that rescues women from prostitution in Bangkok, Thailand, and later with World Concern, an international humanitarian agency fighting human trafficking across Southeast Asia.

It was out of these experiences that Freedom Stones was formed. “I saw missing links that I felt needed to be addressed to help these victims become better integrated and healed,” says Jones-Knippel.

Freedom Stones aims to help victims of human trafficking through:

  • Rescue/rehabilitation
  • Spiritual transformation
  • Holistic skills training
  • Income generation through the making of jewelry
  • Access to micro-loans

“Our heart is to help community-based organizations in countries affected by human trafficking do what they do better – to heal, empower and reintegrate victims back into their communities with the tools that will make them less vulnerable,” says Jones-Knippel.

Kara Ulmer (’98) joined the Freedom Stones staff in Feb. 2010 as the Director of Global Operations and Strategic Development, directly managing operations managers in Ghana and Thailand, and directing the implementation of a new infrastructure in Ghana, Africa.  

Kara Ulmer

Ulmer says her time as a student working in the ACU College of Business Administration computer lab allowed her to develop quickly as a professional, and the time she spent studying abroad in England through the ACU Study Abroad program opened her eyes to other cultures.

Prior to joining Freedom Stones, Ulmer worked with Verizon Wireless and was Director of Global Operations Strategic Planning & Performance for Barclays in England, the second largest financial institution in the world.

“I loved the challenge of creating something new, of seeing business change and helping people to discover new ways of thinking,” says Ulmer. “In 2009, I was beginning to think about how I could use my skills for something new, how I could use them to make a difference for those who were disadvantaged.”

“After spending time praying specifically for a call from Leah, she actually called and we reconnected after several years of being out of touch,” says Ulmer. “We discussed the future of Freedom Stones, and I was convinced I needed to be a part of this adventure and solution.”

“The enormity of human trafficking is astounding, with more people enslaved today – 27 million – than at any time in recorded history,” says Ulmer. “Half of these victims are women, and half of them are under age. I have found that God hears the voices of these women and children and that He loves them deeply.”

For more information about Freedom Stones or to purchase the organization’s jewelry, visit www.freedomstones.ws. The group will also be at the TOMS “Style Your Sole” event on the ACU campus Sept. 14. For more information about the event, visit the ACU website here.