Many folks have likened the stopping of trafficking to “trying to kill a snake with seven heads”, if you chop off one head, another one grows in its place- or, closing the barn door after the cow gets out. Since most trafficking starts within the family, what can an agency or an organization, even as well intentioned as most are, do to REALLY prevent a girl from being sold? This is hidden in such a way that by the time an anti-trafficking organization finds out, it’s too late…the girl has already been persuaded to follow a sister into the same lifestyle, or sold without her knowlege and consent. Are there really any viable solutions within a society that doesn’t enforce its own anti-trafficking and prostitution laws? In a society which doesn’t care about marginalized groups that don’t have legal status, and are virtually stateless peoples? Girls who are forced into prostitution usually, if not always, do so to reinforce dysfunctional family relationships. What is the real solution to this? One day, it came to me: the real solution is a new family: one that is based on what families are intended to be built on: unconditional love and virtue. One that not only trys to help you become the person you can be,  but provides real accountability and sets the boundaries of right and wrong…in other words, a loving family community. That is what We Love Kids began building in Phnom Penh Cambodia in 2005. It’s been a battle: one of the kids in our family has begun taking drugs. One of the girls, under severe pressure from her older brother and sister, has gone into a coffee shop. On the other hand, many children have become Christians and are living stable, happy lives. They join our cell church/youth group every Sunday. We go swimming, bowling, have Bible study, VBS, Christmas parties, Vietnamese New Year parties and trips to the beach. WLK gives kids a loving environment with foster moms and big brothers and sisters. For four years, our Vietnamese teachers have  faithfully taught  kindergarten,  helped mainstream kids into school at the proper age. Literacy and higher level classes are taught during the week. These kids’ parents may be alcoholics, gambling addicts, prostitutes,  junk recyclers, construction workers. One of our children lives with her grandparents since her mother died of AIDS. Upstairs in their little apartment, an illegal gambling den thrives.

In the midst of this sad world, , We Love Kids is trying to build a city on the hill, be salt and light in a dark place. Stand with us.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 11th, 2011 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Girls at Risk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.