Expanding: Child Trafficking Prevention Program

Dear Friends,

We are so excited that this space is now open to our students, their families, and the community at large! We still have a long way to go in terms of furnishing, but we wanted to share with you some photos of the space. (See below.)

We’re excited to have a new International Liaison: Lisa.

Lisa is responsible for facilitating contact between The SOLD Project’s U.S. and Thailand offices. She provides information about various aspects within branches of the organization in order to maintain a professional and positive work environment between the Thai and U.S. personnel. Lisa will be working at the City Center as well as teaching English classes for both our staff and students. She will also be collecting data such as the number of students who attend certain activities, whether they are scholarship or non-scholarship students and whether or not the program was successful. The data Lisa collects helps measure our impact, so that we can remain lean and efficient in reaching more students and people in the community as well as in telling the story of SOLD.

I recently interviewed Lisa and am excited to share her thoughts about the City Center with you all.

What are you most looking forward to with the City Center?

I’m most looking forward to getting to meet the girls and older kids that will come to the center. I am excited about teaching them as well! I will get to teach them English, but also other activities on Saturdays. I would love to work with them on music and dance. It would be really fun to teach them to play an instrument! I hope to find some ukuleles. I think they would enjoy that. I’m also looking forward to the garden in the back. It’s such a lovely outdoor space, and I think having an organic garden will be fun for the kids and for me as well. I am looking forward to helping with the garden and learning how to grow different types of food.

Why do you think having the City Center is important?

It’s important because the older children go to high school in the city, away from their villages, and are too far away to attend the Resource Center activities. It’s important that they continue to have mentorship, especially in high school as their lives are starting to change as they mature. The City Center will provide them with resources right in the city, where it’s accessible for them to get support!

In conversations with the students, what do they tell you about the City Center or how do they feel about having this second center?

I have only talked with a few girls, but they seemed excited to have this space, to meet me, and to practice their English. They said they were looking forward to learning with me!

What is your favorite room in the City Center - or when it's furnished, what do you think your favorite room will be? 

My favorite room would actually be the outside! I love the backyard and can’t wait until it’s turned into a garden, and I am really looking forward to helping with that. I also like the counseling room. I think it will be really nice when it’s finished. I picture it being a peaceful and relaxing room where the kids feel comfortable sharing or just hanging out!

Our next steps are fundraising for furnishing the center and for hiring part-time staff for tutoring and art activities. Thank you so much for all of your support in helping us disrupt child exploitation through prevention.

With hope,

Alaynah Fiedler

U.S. Operations Manager