By Chris Morgan | Resource Mobilization Manager
Dear Friend,
The Freedom Story provides a holistic approach to preventing child trafficking and exploitation in Northern Thailand. Our team in Nan Province has supported 65 scholarship students since 2020, helping them access education, teaching them about their rights, and working with their families to create supplementary streams of income.
Mint* has been a scholarship recipient for just one year, and we accepted her due to the severity of her risk of being trafficked. Every year, before we bring students into the program, we perform a risk factor evaluation to ensure that we are accepting students that are the most at-risk in the area. During Mint’s evaluation, our staff was concerned with several matters putting Mint at risk. According to Kru Ball, the manager of our programs in Nan, “Poverty is the factor that puts her most at risk. There is also a lot of drug use in the community surrounding her that negatively impacts her risk as well.”
Because Mint’s parents had to migrate to a different province to find work, her primary caretakers are her elderly grandparents. Due to physical disabilities, her grandparents are unable to provide for their family, which puts additional pressure on Mint to drop out of school after her 9th-grade year and get a job to support them all. This is a common expectation for many children in Northern Thailand whose families are poverty stricken and have limited options. At the age of 15, dropping out of school would put Mint at much higher risk of trafficking and exploitation because there are so few legitimate job opportunities for someone that young and without a degree.
Moreover, the staff was specifically concerned with Mint’s online activity. She was talking regularly with strangers and sharing inappropriate messages. This behavior is quite common in skipped generation households, where children often lack supportive relationships and grandparents struggle to understand and support the younger generation. This behavior, combined with the other factors, presented a clear pathway, opening her up to the likelihood of exploitation and potential trafficking.
The Freedom Story’s scholarship has addressed these concerns by providing the family with financial relief to offset Mint’s education costs and some of the income that she would have been making if she had dropped out of school. Mint has also received support from The Freedom Story in the form of resources and workshops. She and her family have been a part of our trainings on the dangers of online exploitation and what is appropriate online activity.
The change we’ve seen in her in just a short time has been remarkable. Mint is a bright and joy-filled teenager. Her eagerness to join all of The Freedom Story’s activities has had a positive impact on her peers. Her behavior and enthusiasm are infectious to others in the program. Just after a year of being in our program, she has become a model student.
Not only has The Freedom Story chosen to invest in Mint, but also in Mint’s family. Kru Ball explains, “The biggest change that we have seen is in the quality of life for her family. Mint’s family is a part of many of our programs. Her grandparents have been one of the model families for our Sustainable Livelihoods project for about one year. They have seen their monthly income increase from 1800 baht ($68 SGD) per month to 2300-2800 baht ($87-$107 SGD) per month.” We have helped her grandparents learn to raise frogs, chickens, and catfish at their house for additional income, which helps provide a buffer against the financial desperation that might have pushed Mint into making choices that would have put her at risk of trafficking.
Mint has relished in her success since coming to The Freedom Story, and we could not be prouder of the change in her perspective. “After entering into The Freedom Story’s scholarship program, my life has changed. I have joined many different activities, from trainings on the dangers of online media to sex education. All of the activities can be used to improve my life in many areas, such as education, family relationships, and overall lifestyle.” Mint is more self confident. She has developed leadership skills. She has healthier communication with her guardians. And as a result of the workshops on the dangers of online exploitation, she has also changed her behavior, now being much more careful with not only who she talks to but what messages she sends as well.
Thank you for partnering with The Freedom Story in preventing child trafficking in Northern Thailand. There are a lot of vulnerable young girls like Mint that we work with, and together, we can reduce their risk of trafficking.
With Hope,
The Freedom Story
*Name changed to protect the privacy and identity of the student.
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