Education Thailand Project #6718

Prevent Child Trafficking Through Education

by The Freedom Story (Formerly The SOLD Project)

Prevent Child Trafficking Through Education

Project Report | Jun 8, 2026
Graduation Means Much More in Northern Thailand

By Chealsia Smedley | Communications Coordinator

Since 2008, thanks to donors like you, The Freedom Story scholarship students have achieved a 90% high school graduation rate.

A 90% graduation rate is an incredible achievement and a testament to your impact.

But to see that, we first need to understand the context:

50% of children in Thailand finish high school.
In rural areas, that number drops to 42%.
In the poorest communities, it decreases to 23%.

The Freedom Story selects scholarship students who are the most vulnerable in rural Thailand. Our risk factor analysis measures 7 key trafficking risks, including poverty, home life instability, and family histories of abuse or trafficking.

Most of our students’ families live on less than $1 per person per day. And only 4% of their guardians finished high school.

As soon as someone joins our program, they are 86% more likely to graduate from high school than their guardians. When students receive consistent support to stay in school, mentorship, and trafficking prevention training, their stories shift from vulnerability to possibility.

When you give to The Freedom Story, whether one-time or monthly with The Freedom Chapter, you give children the resources and tools they need to break cycles.

Every scholarship student leaves our program equipped to break cycles of poverty and exploitation and replace them with cycles of freedom and opportunity.

Since 2008, we have given more than 1,000 students access to education.

Every June, we welcome a new generation of students into our prevention programming. The impact extends far beyond these students when they share their prevention knowledge with families, peers, and communities.

One of our graduating students, Misu, put it this way:

“I used to be incredibly shy, but now I’m a leader who goes out with the Freedom Story staff to share the knowledge I’ve learned with younger students and friends.

I believe that, with all the support I’ve received, I will have a better life, be able to take care of myself, and contribute to others. May the opportunities you have given me return to you.”

Thank you for being someone who gives vulnerable children access to opportunity, freedom, and hope.

We couldn’t do this vital work without you!

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Apr 13, 2026
A Scholarship Helped This Child and Her Grandma

By Chealsia Smedley | Communications Coordinator

Happy Songkran from Thailand! Songkran, also known as the Thai New Year, is a time when many embrace renewal, washing away the last year and cooling off during the hottest part of the year with water fights and splashing buckets.

It’s also a time when the youngest family members honor their elders. In that vein, I would love for you to meet Fah’s grandma.

Fah has been a scholarship student for six years now. Since then, not only has she reduced her trafficking risk and started to thrive in school, but her grandmother also became a stable leader in their home and community. Their story shows how protection for one student spreads to impact peers, families, and communities.

Here’s her story:

As the sole provider for a family of six, Grandma Son needed a long-term path forward— one that would protect her four grandchildren from extreme poverty and trafficking risk.

When her granddaughter Fah became a scholarship student with The Freedom Story, she took advantage of our home visits and caregiver workshops, learning to manage her finances and eventually opening her own restaurant.

During breaks, instead of spending unmonitored time online, the children help at the restaurant, earning income, building responsibility, and staying connected to a safe, supportive adult. With both parents struggling with addiction, the children faced increased vulnerability to trafficking and online exploitation.

Now, Grandma Son earns enough to cover Fah’s siblings’ school fees. She even shares the knowledge she has learned with other families, helping them alleviate poverty and keep their kids safe from trafficking.

Thanks to people like you, whose generosity kept Fah in school, now she and her siblings have the stable support they need to build futures marked by freedom and opportunity.

Thank you for making this story possible. You can read Grandma Son’s story and much more in our 2025 Impact Report.

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2025 Impact Report

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Dec 22, 2025
This Year, You've Changed So Many Lives.

By Chealsia Smedley | Communications Coordinator

This year, the generosity of our donor community transformed lives —protecting children and entire communities across Thailand.

Because of you:

442 children gained access to education and mentorship.
6,500+ people received training to avoid risks, exercise their rights, and protect others.
440+ families learned to build financial literacy skills and sustainable income.

These numbers represent real people: children who are safer, families who are more secure, and communities that are better equipped to protect one another for generations to come.

One of those children is Sunee*(photographed above)

Sunee dreamed of making money to support her family. When she heard friends were earning fast cash through online gambling, she thought that was her answer. Originally from Myanmar, Sunee heard it was easier to get this kind of job there. When she decided to pursue this path, she was quickly taken advantage of. Losing everything —Sunee had to skip meals and melt ice from work just to have drinking water. Alone and hopeless, she didn’t know where to turn.

Then, she remembered The Freedom Story’s trafficking prevention training

Because of supporters like you, Sunee resisted the trap of online gambling and exploitation. The training she received through our Prevention Partners program did more than warn her about the risks of trafficking—it gave her tools to choose stability in a situation of desperation that would easily lead others into exploitation.

Through this training, Sunee found the hope, skills, and confidence she needed to build a better future. She even reached her dream of supporting her family, using the money she earned at a convenience store to support her younger sister’s education.

Now, Sunee is a mentor with The Freedom Story, volunteering her time to share her experiences and help younger kids choose a better path forward.

As we close out the year, you can help us extend this same protection to six new communities in 2026, providing more children with the safety and freedom they deserve.

And right now, every gift is doubled thanks to a generous year-end match.

That means that a gift of $60 (doubled to $120) provides prevention training for 40 students, the same training that transformed Sunee's life and the lives of 80 other children in her community.

This is an external match that is not being monitored by GlobalGiving. For more information or questions, please email us at contact@thefreedomstory.org.

*Name changed to protect student privacy

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