Story told by Ms. Souksavanh Souvanny, TerraKids Manager, Pakse, Laos
In recent years, child trafficking has become a huge and growing problem in SE Asia. In the country of Laos for example, traffickers prey on the poverty of families and offer the promise of scholarships or lucrative employment to entice parents to consider allowing their child to travel across the border for a chance at a “better life”. Usually these offers amount to lies and children are trafficked to other countries, often never to be seen again.
The TerraKids Team works in rural schools in southern Laos to educate children as young as 5 years old about the dangers of human trafficking. It’s important that children themselves understand the risks around them and have a role in saying ‘no’ to protect themselves both in person and online. Often someone the child knows, loves and trusts will be the perpetrator, and the TerraKids team helps educate students to this fact and how to respond. The TerraKids team has been invited to nearly 200 schools (over 21,400 students) since 2018 to present their hands-on educational program which includes skits, puppets and life-sized dolls that tell the true story of trafficking and how to stay safe. Students are encouraged to volunteer in skits with their classmates, so when they are faced with a situation that could involve trafficking, they will know how to respond appropriately.
In one district the team visited, a student was approached by a man who offered a generous scholarship to study in the capital. The student was very excited and planned to accept the offer without asking many questions. It was only after a good friend, a friend who had attended the TerraKids program and learned the dangers of human trafficking, asked for more details. It was then discovered that the student had been lied to and the offer was too good to be true. The man making the offer had very different plans for the student. Those plans did not include additional education or the chance of a better life. Instead, the student would likely be forced to work in a brothel in another country.
Hearing that story helped the TerraKids Team to realize the importance of educating younger students about the risks of trafficking and specifically teaching primary students to say ‘no’ and walk away when appropriate. In this case, the entire community benefited from the information that the students received from TerraKids. In Laos, many students end their formal education at grade 5. Informing communities through training students about the risks of trafficking is a critical vector of knowledge for entire communities.
TerraKids is a project sponsored by TerraClear Foundation. Go to the Donate Page if you would like to support TerraKids and other similar projects in southeast Asia.
