GlobalGiving.org: Restoring hope to trafficked girls in Cambodia

Thank you!

Maria Van Hoorn — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:55:06 GMT

Watch Hagar's Thank You Video

During Human Trafficking Awareness month, we want you to know that you've made a tremendous impact on the girls in Cambodia who come from backgrounds of human trafficking. To show our appreciation, we've created a special thank you video for you directly from Cambodia. Watch Hagar's thank you video (one minute).

We look forward to our journey together in 2012.

Links:

Thank You Video

Escaping the Darkness

Maria Van Hoorn — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:08:36 GMT

Girls Recovery Shelter in Cambodia

“I did not choose the darkness. People tricked me. They brought me to a place and locked me inside a small room. They forced me to take a pill. Darkness surrounded me like a blanket. I was lost and confused. Even when I was rescued, I felt the same. Like I could not escape.”

Kyky's story echoes the experiences of so many other young girls who have suffered the trauma and violation of sexual exploitation. Kyky is the whole reason Hagar walks the entire painstaking journey to wholeness. Because of your support we can provide the long-term aftercare that girls who have survived human trafficking need.

Now, after seven years of aftercare at Hagar, Kyky is strong. She has courage and hope for the future. With big dreams in her heart, she has finally escaped the darkness.

Links:

Dreams for the Future

Maria Van Hoorn — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:54:28 GMT

Rous Thavy's dream for the future

Saved from a life of slavery, every girl has different needs. But one need is always the same. Education. Hagar's catch-up school in Cambodia teaches two grades per year. Once students are caught up to their age peers, they are integrated into a private school.

Last month, students at Hagar's School shared their dreams for the future with their teachers. It is our priveledge to share the girl's dreams with you:

"My dream is to be a good hair dresser and I want to run my own business so I can train young poor children, who are victims of abuse to be experts in this skill. I am happy because at Hagar I can learn these skills." - Rous Thavy, 16 years old, Grade 1A

"My dream is be a senior bank manager, because I want to be a reputable person in society. I can also help my family and those who are poor and abused like me." -Pov Lina, 8 years old, Grade 1A

"My dream is to be a manager at an organization, because I want to help abused victims like me rebuild their future." -Ny Theary, 13 years old, Grade 1A

"My dream is to be a doctor, because I want to cure people who are ill. I also want to help my community since there are not many doctors there." - Mol Sonita, 9 years old, Grade 3

We know that education can make dreams happen. Thank you for your continued support.

The Playground at Hagar's School

Mol Sonita's Dream

Links:

Join a LIVE call with Cambodia

Maria Van Hoorn — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:13:44 GMT

Girls at Hagar's Recovery Shelter

CONNECT WITH A TRAFFICKING EXPERT IN CAMBODIA

We are hosting a LIVE call with Cambodia this Tuesday, July 19th at 6:00pm (PDT) or 9:00pm (EDT). One of Hagar's managers, Sue Hanna, will share client's stories, on-the-ground issues, and take your questions.

Take this two-minute survey to become eligible. If you are one of the 25 people selected (in a random drawing), we'll email you call-in instructions this weekend.

You'll need to ACT FAST to qualify for this unique opportunity to connect with a trafficking expert in the field.

Links:

"Everything Will Be Okay"

Maria Van Hoorn — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:09:30 GMT

Two girls at Hagar's Recovery Shelter

Pich is now eighteen-years-old and has journeyed for several years through the pain and triumph of recovery. She was trafficked and abused at a very young age and through counseling was able to confront her perpetrator in court. Pich has created a new life for herself in the USA, with the help of a deeply committed foster family.

Sometimes, the memories still hurt and life isn't always easy, but Pich has come a long way. She's a confident young woman now.

Maly recently arrived in the USA as a victim-witness. She is nine-years-old and is preparing to confront her perpetrator in court in a few months. Though she is staying with Pich's loving family, the change has been immense for her and she misses home, Cambodia.

Maly shared her mixed emotions and worries with the family, and Sarah (Hagar staff). As Maly's eyes filled with tears, Pich reached over and embraced her, whispering, "everything will be okay." There is power in this short sentence, coming from a young woman who knows and can say with conviction that 'it will be okay'.

Hagar pursues the highest degree of care and protection for each of its beneficiaries. To protect the identity of our clients, names have been changed and pictures do not necessarily represent the individual profiled.

Links:

http://hagarusa.org/stories/cambodia-recovery-shelter-for-trafficked-girls/

A Birthday To Remember

Maria Van Hoorn — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:27:09 GMT

Blowing out the Birthday Candles

On March 15, 2011, we turned 17 years old! We celebrated that night in Cambodia with a birthday party. As you can see the girls and boys at Hagar enjoyed birthday cake and confidentially performed a traditional Cambodian dance. The celebration also included a staff awards ceremony, where staff were recognized for their years of service at Hagar.

To top it all off, supporters like you gave us birthday gifts on Global Giving's match day, March 16th. This raised over $11,000 to support the trafficked and abused individuals in our care.

It's been 17 amazing years of walking the whole journey with women and children who have survived trafficking and abuse in Cambodia. Thank you for partnering with us in this vision to do whatever it takes!

Hagar's CEO, Talmage, Cuts the Cake

Traditional Cambodian dances performed at party

Links:

Another 'first Christmas'

Jane Tafel — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 17:28:01 GMT

Trafficked girls' first Christmas tree

The girls in Hagar Cambodia's Aftercare Shelter are getting excited about Christmas. For most of them this will be their first Christmas ever. They will have a small party, receive a gift, and learn the story of why we celebrate.

The 25 girls in Hagar's Aftercare program will join an additional 125 women and children from other Hagar programs. They will sing, dance, and eat a special meal together. We know it will be very festive, and we anticipate the excitement it will bring to all. For girls rescued from egregious abuse, there's not a lot about their pasts to celebrate. It's essential to find ways to celebrate the present and the future: holidays, birthdays, school exams.....any reason at all! Throughout the year we hear, "this is the first time I have every had a party for my birthday." Soon, many girls' "first Christmas" will be a very special day.

Links:

Support Hagar Cambodia and get a handbag as a gift!

One story of a transformed life

Jane Tafel — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 16:10:15 GMT

Girls served in Hagar's Aftercare program have suffered unspeakable abuse. Yet, there are many stories of hope. Malis' (not her real name) is one of them:

At seven, when her mother took her to 'work' at a brothel in her village, Malis was not able to refuse. Some nights she met with 3 - 4 men. She always returned home to give the money to her mother. She was rescued at 10. The rescue, itself, was terrifying. There was shouting and running and Malis had no idea what was going on.

In 2005, Malis came to Hagar's Aftercare program, for girls needing long-term care. Malis was afraid of new people and new situations. Particularly when foreigners came to visit, Malis would be terrified and run and lock herself in a room. Slowly, though, she has regained hope and started to blossom.

Earlier this year, Malis completed Hagar's new Trauma-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy program. She worked through lots of questions about her past, many of them about her mother. She acquired skills to tell her story, and she learned to challenge unhelpful and inaccurate thoughts. Her confidence and self-esteem have grown tremendously. She no longer needs intensive shelter care, so she is living with a foster family in the community.

Recently, Malis volunteered to to tell her story for a documentary on human trafficking. Throughout the process, her inner strength shone through, moving all involved in the filming to tears.

Links:

Hagar Aftercare Child Committee creates leaders!

Jane Tafel — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:05:40 GMT

I'm writing from Cambodia where I have been making Hagar site visits for the past two weeks. Regarding our Aftercare project, I have some very encouraging news to share. Over the past nine months, Hagar has developed a leadership program for girls who have survived sex trafficking and rape at alarmingly young ages. A core group of seven girls was elected by their peers. These young girls have been trained in communication skills, leadership. problem solving, and conflict resolution. Now, when disputes arise among the other girls served by Hagar Aftercare, the concerns are first heard by the Child Committee. They are effectively facilitating resolutions in many cases. When a resolution can not be reached, then the concern is carried to Hagar staff.

Even more exciting, these girls have been trained to teach workshops. They have been working with Hagar's Activities Director to design ways to convey lessons on self-esteem, problem-solving, respecting others, etc. They lead a Saturday workshop with the 25 girls in residence every week. Says Sue Hanna, Hagar Cambodia Residential Services Manager, "watching these girls lead lessons they have written themselves can reduce you to tears." We are finding this very encouraging work.

Links:

Hear Hagar Cambodia staff talk about why they do what they do

Aftercare site visit

Bill Brower — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:09:52 GMT

Bill Brower is a Field Program Officer with GlobalGiving who is visiting our projects throughout Southeast Asia. On January 14th he visited Hagar's Aftercare program in Phnom Penh:

An indication of the magnitude of the problem, GlobalGiving has a number of projects dealing with sex-trafficking victims and gender-based violence in Cambodia. In visiting these projects over the past few weeks and listening to the organizations describe how some less effective organizations in the country operate, I began to get a clear view of some things to look for in a good program for girls and young women who have gone through such horrific ordeals. The most important seemed to be a long-term commitment to reintegrating the girls into a more normal life. One could see the temptation to “wrap them up in cotton wool” (as my Scottish friend would say) to ensure they’re never hurt like that again; the staff at Hagar’s Aftercare recovery shelter give comprehensive and personalized care, with an eye each step of the way toward avoiding institutionalization.

The facilities seem like everything a young girl would want: Clean dorms, a nice classroom for the young ones, space to run around, playground equipment and even a little wading pool that they fill up on special occasions. Each girl, along with five of her peers, is assigned to a House Mother, with whom they spend 24 hours everyday to help build up a sense of consistency and trust. Counseling is available and it sounds like some great informal counseling goes on between the girls who can relate to each others' stories.

The girls were at school when I visited, the older girls in the public school, and some of the younger girls just across the street from the center. I didn’t want to distract from their studies, so we just said a quick hello to the younger girls. Twenty-five or so beaming, healthy looking faces greeted me with a very nice welcome. Though it was hard to see them knowing what they’d been through, I was happy to know they were on the road to recovery with Hagar.

Hope Restored to Trafficked Girls in 2009

Jane Tafel — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:38:08 GMT

Aftercare school

The needs of girls from backgrounds of trafficking or other forms of sexual abuse are growing in Cambodia. Hagar’s Aftercare program served a total of 95 girls in 2009, compared to 87 last year. When a trafficking victim comes to Hagar, we always hope that she can be reunited with a loving family. In 2009, this was the case for 23 girls. However, when a child’s family can’t be found or was complicit in the abuse, she can never be reintegrated. Hagar then provides loving, long-term care in a Family Aftercare Home. In 2009, this involved 43 girls in both Phnom Penh and Kampong Thom.

In order to help these girls recover from their horrific abuse, we are now providing a new form of counseling. Recently, eight Hagar counselors were trained to provide Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Although common in the west, it is new to Cambodia. A partnership across Johns Hopkins University, World Vision, and Hagar has made this possible.

Says Sue Taylor, Hagar Cambodia Psychosocial Manager, “Each girl will be more able to take on whatever life throws at her, with strength and resilience and dignity. I am proud of our counseling staff and their commitment to excellence.”

Girls at play

Reading at Aftercare

Links:

A Postcard from Restoring hope to trafficked girls in Cambodia

Clare Rutz — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:22:25 GMT

Clare Rutz is a student who is traveling throughout Asia this summer and visiting a number of GlobalGiving projects. On June 4th she visited "Restoring hope to trafficked girls in Cambodia." When asked what she would tell her friends about this project, Clare said: “Great: They are making a difference!"

I visited the aftercare program made possible by Hagar, which has become home for many trafficked girls in Cambodia. This was my experience:

After crossing the street from the aftercare program we enter the school building for grades 1-3, which is where I see a flashy neon pink tuk-tuk parked in front. I catch a proud smile of the director that was brought on by the fact that they had just bought the new addition today. The tuk-tuk will take the girls to and from school in style, and the style is well deserved. The amount of school they missed because they were sold out of a child’s world has forced the girls to spend their weekdays in a classroom in order to catch up and complete two grade levels in one year.

I continue my visit as I head to the playground where I have fortunately intruded during recess. I’m greeted with big hellos and each available hand belonging to the new faces is immediately grabbed. They look up at as us and take the opportunity to practice their English. “What’s your name?” they ask. They’re proud of how far they have come and the friendships they’ve made. When I talk to the girls I see confidence and hear about their newfound dreams of being teachers, doctors, and founder of NGOs to help girls with the same horrific past. Sreyna, the director of the aftercare program, comments, “When they first come their dreams are small then they see hope for the future. They have a high goal.” Survival instincts are replaced with looking positively forward, but this takes time.

There are twenty-five girls living in the aftercare program, while there are ninety girls benefiting from the program who are either integrated back into their family or living in a more permanent housing situation. At the aftercare program each bed is made with a nice family of stuffed animals placed carefully on each corner. There are four full-time “mothers” who cook for the girls, read to them, and most importantly love them while teaching them to trust again. Downstairs there is a room for the four counselors, including both Vietnamese and Cambodian. The importance of having someone who understands your language and culture is valued here, and with a large population of Vietnamese sex-trafficked girls a diverse staff is encouraged. The girls are very difficult when they come to the house at first because of the new scenery and strangers, but as years pass they talk to the counselors and create a trusting relationship. They learn to love themselves and each other while a non-traditional kind of family is formed, but a family nonetheless.

The program started in 2005 and many of the girls are growing up. It is a goal of Hagar to integrate the girls back into their family homes if it possible. Sometimes, after much counseling and monitoring, it is clear that it would not be safe for them to return home they move on into a more permanent “family home” with fewer girls and one “mother” looking after them to create a more traditional sense of family. In some cases the girls go to live with both a mother and father that have devoted their lives to parenting and loving as many children as they are able. The hopeful conclusion is that they can grow up safely in a place that feels like home with a restored hope that opens up once closed doors to countless opportunities.

Hagar Update: Achievements/Challenges

Jane Tafel — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:05:17 GMT

Hagar has recently established an onsite health clinic staffed with a physician and a nurse. Since access to quality health care has always been problematic in Cambodia, this addresses a long-identified challenge. Through the Hagar clinic, each child gets an immediate medical check-up upon intake. And, coming from backgrounds of rape, violence, and abuse, many children arrive at Hagar’s Aftercare Center with significant health needs. Most have little understanding of proper hygiene and nutrition, and clinic staff help them learn. We’re happy to add this component to our program of holistic recovery care.

A total of 13 girls were involved with court cases against their abusers in 2008, with six of them involved in a particularly egregious case against a Russian pedophile.

We thank everyone for their support in recent months. Funding has been tight due to some major donors being unable to fulfill their commitments. At this difficult time, those who have the capacity to give, at any level, truly have the opportunity to make a difference and transform lives! Thanks to all of you who support our work, at any level.

Says Thi, who was sold into a brothel at age six, by desperately poor parents, “Sometimes, when I think about the past, I feel like a bird with broken wings that cannot fly.”