Donations support our Community Learning Centre (CLC) Program to provide free literacy and human rights education to up to 200 migrants per month in the local area of northern Thailand. These often stateless individuals are at significant risk of being trafficked into an exploitative situation such as forced sex work or hard manual labor. Having the opportunity for academic, vocational, language, and human rights education significantly reduces this risk and opens the door to future security.
The Community Learning Centre serves children and adults, most of whom are at high risk of being trafficked into the commercial sex industry and other exploitative forms of labor. Poverty, racial discrimination, and lack of citizenship documentation prevent these individuals from going to school or obtaining a stable job. As a result, hundreds of people are living in poor and often desperate conditions with no access to medical care or police protection and few opportunities for the future.
Most students of the Community Learning Centre join us unable to speak fluent Thai or English, are not aware of their human rights, and have never used a computer. Students learn Thai, English, Burmese, computer skills, and are taught about their human rights in special workshops. Having this added skill-set not only opens many more opportunities for stronger education and better employment, but it ensures students are able to protect themselves from exploitative situations.
The Community Learning Centre will provide education and awareness for up to 200 migrant children and adults, allowing them to study, learn a trade, and develop confidence and life skills that will prevent their risk of trafficking due to economic need or deception. We believe this will create a snowball effect as we encourage students to share their studies with friends and family thus reducing the amount of people at risk in the community.
