Prevent Child Trafficking Through Education

Dear Friends,

Our Resource and City Centers provide mentorship and resources to students who otherwise would have a difficult time navigating their educational paths, and their activities are vital to our students’ success.

Our centers provide numerous classes and events every month, from English classes to academic counseling sessions for our scholarship students. One of the highlights for our students this quarter was a cooking activity paired with an Academic Counseling session. Staff and students together made small blueberry cheesecakes and enjoyed eating them while socializing. Three University students attended to offer advice and support for our younger students. Staff asked the younger students what they wanted to study and which universities they wanted to attend. Then the staff and older students provided information on what university life is like, how to apply, study and take tests, and be successful. They talked about the lifestyle differences between high school, vocational school, and university. The staff then led a counseling based drawing activity broken into four parts. For the first picture, the kids were asked to draw a representation of themselves. Some of the responses were “wind because I feel free,” and “tree because I am strong and give protection to others.” For the next picture, they drew something they would want to do if they had no obstacles. Most of the answers involved traveling the world or studying abroad. The third picture they drew was the obstacle preventing them from achieving that goal, and most answered money or parents not understanding. The last picture they drew was their own strength. Some of the students answered they were strong mentally, or had to grow up fast, and were thus mature for their age. The activity was insightful for the students, helping them grow in the self-awareness and confidence they need to move forward into preparing for university.

Another exciting activity that has been taking place is our Basic Law for Youth Project. Win, a former student at The SOLD Project and now employed as our legal advisor (whom we wrote a project report on when he joined our team in 2015), realized he didn’t know a lot about crime or law as a child growing up in a small village. He decided to start a program to help other kids in small villages learn about the law at a young age. Win states, “my goal is that they will apply this knowledge to their daily life to help them make good decisions as well as understand their own rights as a child.”

Thank you so much for all of your support in helping us disrupt child exploitation through prevention. Your gifts provide us with the ability to hold important activities that ensure our students’ success.

With hope and gratitude,

The SOLD Project Team