Thursday, August 15, 2013

Somaly Mam !!!

Today Julia and I had the wonderful privilege of going to AFESIP. AFESIP Cambodia is a non- governmental, non-partisan, non-profit and non-religious organization established in 1996. The dire situations of thousands of victims forced into sex slavery are the reason why AFESIP exists today. They are devoted to - "humanly correct development"- in order to fight against the trafficking of women and children for sex slavery. They have 3 major locations for their safe shelters: Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Kompong Cham. We visited the Phnom Penh location.

We spent a good amount of time interviewing Sao Chhoerurth, the executive director and CEO of AFESIP Cambodia. He was very helpful and shared some insightful information.

One of the things that I am learning here is how deeply the level of political corruption and commitment runs. I have  discovered something new happening in the city. There are now some farmers and agriculturalists, people who have no expertise or experience in the field of trafficking or psychology, have gotten involved in the arena of human sex trafficking and started up NGO's not to be a part of the solution in trafficking but for the purpose of receiving funding for personal vocational enterprises. This was shocking for me but definitely helped us to see how much we need people who are dedicated and committed to truly being a part of the solution.

I have also found that, although Southeast Asia is over saturated with NGO's, we are finding them to be less effective because they refuse to work together. There are somewhere between 2000 and 2500 NGO's that are here to help fight against the problem of human trafficking and none of them have been unified. NGO jealousy and competition is an interesting phenomenon. Please pray for unity in the body of Christ in Southeast Asia, as this is one of the Stoplight Project's main objectives.

After our interview with Sao, we asked if we could take a picture with him beside the photographs taken of Somaly Mam on the wall (photographs of her meeting with Jennifer Garner, Michelle Obama, Hilary Clinton etc). He then mentioned to us that she was actually there at that location. When we realized that he was speaking about Somali Mam, both Julia and I were ecstatic and excited about the possibility of meeting this incredible woman. Check out and support http://www.somaly.org/ . He then called her on his cell phone and she said we should come up. He took us her office where she invited us to come in and sit on her couch. Oh my goodness! At this point i'm just completely amazed that I have the honor and privilege to sit before this remarkable woman. She was so open and warm. She shared with us just how much of a work and commitment this type of work requires. People want to see success right away, she said that often times we don't see promise or results for years after rescuing girls. She said, "It takes 5 minutes to rescue a girl but after those 5 minutes you have about 5 years of work with them after."

At the end of my time with her I had the opportunity to ask her one final question. I knew the exact question I wanted to ask Somaly. It was the same one I asked myself after watching the documentary Half the Sky and the same one I asked Ravi Zaccharias after his talk on "What It Means to be Human" at Trinity last fall. And it was the same question that has been pushing me, persuading me and propelling me into the global combat against sex trafficking: "After all the women and children have gone through, starting at ages as young as 5 taking up to 30 male clients a day, how can they be survivors and conquerors of trafficking, abuse and sexual violence and no longer victims? How can they, who have been treated like objects for so long feel like human persons with a sense of the God given dignity within???" she said "Love them. Love them with your hands and your heart. Love them."

Jesus said "A new command I give to you, Love each other as I have loved you, so you must love one another"
John 13:34
Above all, Love each other, because Love covers a multitude of sins
1 Peter 4:8

Julia O'carey, The Associate Director of Adventist Southeast Asia Projects Ministries, My Boss and an excellent role model, wrote a little bit about her experience and I have included it below.



I read The Road of Lost Innocence on my flight over to Southeast Asia, the true story of Somaly Mam. It touched me deeply to read of Somaly Mam's courage through her painful childhood of abuse, violence and sex trafficking. I have true respect for how she proactively went about rescuing girls in Cambodia and rejoice over the success of the rescue centers that exist today, not only in Cambodia, but in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand as well. At the conclusion of her book I had a strong impression to pray for her and told the Lord how amazing it would be if someday Somaly Mam and her girls would encounter the Master Healer, the true source of Love. I had no idea in my wildest dreams that I would be able to meet her, being an internationally known person as she is. What a joy it was to get to visit with her today and see her passion first hand...an experience I'll never forget and I thank God for.




4 comments:

  1. Shantel, what is the plan to bring unity among the work in Cambodia? are you referring to Christian organizations or any in general. This is one of the most difficult things to do, even within church organizations. So I was just wondering what goals you have in that regard!. Enjoying the posts :) Thanks!

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  3. I understand what you mean, and you ask a very valid question. My personal plan is to be as INTENTIONAL about unity (in diversity as well as spirituality) as possible. Seeking to preserve the unity that has been given already (Ephesians 4:3) is far better than praying for unity and accepting a pseudo form of unity which is actually assimilation. My corporate plan in Southeast Asia is to be a support base (technically) for current existing NGO's, a facilitation center for different workshops where NGO's can come and meet and share ideas worship together and seek ways to work together for future projects, also to be a resource to others with the hope that they will also want to do the same. We need a solid Christian network as there is so much corruption. As much NGO jealousy that exists, the Christian world is willing and receptive to working together - however difficult the task may be- we just have to be open as well and start thinking about the body of Christ wholistically. I don't have all the answers but this is where I think I will start. I have met with several NGO's and I will meet with several more this week. It has been positive so far. But if you have some ideas or suggestions please share here on the blog.

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  4. Hi Shantel. Thank you for your detailed response. This is something I've pondered on many times. But I like the support based approach. I think this is what Christ mean when he spoke about the church being a body. All parts of the body support each other and thats how they work together. By making the resources of The Stoplight Project available to others strengthens the work as a whole and brings unity. I know there is a lot more to it than this, will share any resources I come across on the subject. Many Blessings to you!

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