Clint and I met up with Nicole and Drae at the end of the day feeling pretty satisfied with our shopping. We kept costs low, found good furniture and didn't get into any trouble. We met them at the salon just a couple of doors down from the new Daughters Training Center. They were talking with two young girls in the back of the shop along with our two Cambodian friends and Chris Alexander, our host from CGI. Thearin and Theary were deep in conversation with these two girls who they had known for a long time.
We discovered that both of the girls had been previously trafficked by their parents. The reason they were at the shop was because one of the girls had just arrived home after paying back her "debt" to her previous employer. She had been sold for $300. She had only been home for a couple of days when her parents re-signed a new contract for her to become a housekeeper in Malaysia for 2 years. The contract payment was for $200 and 5 bags of rice for her family [this 15 year old girl is worth less now because she has been previously contracted]. This beautiful little girl was convinced that she would be a housekeeper while Thearin and Theary were convinced that she was being trafficked; at best as a laborer and at worst as a prostitute.
Her friend, sitting next to her wouldn’t make eye contact with us for most of the time that we were with them. Her story is equally heartbreaking for different reasons. She had been sold into prostitution by her father. Some of the folks who know the family think it was so that dad could buy a television [at some point we will comment at length on our opinions about how this becomes the logical conclusion in a global society that is established on consumption]. She had been sold a number of times and now was sitting here in the salon contemplating her next move. She was considering relocating to a region where prostitution is prominent. This 15 year old girl was making a career decision right before our eyes!
And yet, the beauty of this encounter is that we had something tangible to offer them. We have a two year training program that will teach girls like these how to sew so that they will be able to get employment, help their families, and ultimately protect their younger siblings from experiencing the same thing. We put the offer on the table to both girls. Come to live in our training center, learn to sew, make $20 a week (girls make about $50/month as escorts) and break the cycle of despair.
Then the twist came. The first girl had already signed a legal document with a legitimate(??) agency in Phnom Penh that she was bound to repay for the next two years. The only way that she could get out of the contract was to repay the $200 plus an additional penalty of, you guessed it, $200. $400 goes a long way over here!
Pray for these two young ladies. We will have already met with them by the time you read this but yesterday was an amazing moment. We were given the privilege to offer freedom for the captives, literally. If the girls agree, we will pay the $400 and begin the long, difficult, and scary process of redemption with them.
Do you have $400 that you would like to share with the girls in Cambodia? We would love to stretch it into redemptive capital for the glory of our God if you are interested.
Jeff
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