"Since the 7th grade, my mentor Plaar, was always there for me no matter how difficult it got; she encouraged me in every aspect of my life . Plaar helped me with my studies, everyday life, and gave me lots of advice.” —Poh, University Graduate
While only 6% of our students’ parents completed their secondary education, today 85% of their children have gone to graduate high school (a staggering 1316%). Currently, CLF is on target to increase graduation rates over the next 2-3 years. And, like Poh, with CLF’s continued support, many of our students are able to pursue their dreams of higher education.
Like all of our students, Poh entered our program because she was identified by our staff as at-risk. While it’s never for certain whether or not a person will be trafficked due to lack of education, poverty, statelessness, or isolation, we do use the knowledge we’ve gained through experience and what we know about the family seeking assistance to support our decision. This is especially important with having a diverse group of students (migrant, refugee, Thai, and Hill Tribe). Emotionally, this is challenging because the need is always far greater than our budget.
We look at the family’s living and financial situation, whether or not a child is at risk of dropping out of school or getting married, we look at the family’s legal status, the parent’s education history, whether the child has a family member who begs or sells their body for money due to the lack of options and resources, as well as the parental status.
Poh joined our program when she was in the 7th grade. 10 years later, she has a bachelor’s degree and is working full-time at a hospital in the Human Resources department and loving it!
Recently she accepted an invitation to speak to our Bangkok Scholarship students. We love having CLF graduates support our programs this way. It allows for our students to see that their experiences and challenges are shared by others—they are not alone and there is hope!
Human trafficking exist to destroy connections; connections to family, home, agency, and freedom. Creative Life Foundation exists to create connections. Connecting people to critical resources is essential to our mission, but what really drives us is how we connect to people, human to human, in ways that spark change and shape new cycles.
Want to join us in creating a more equitable and just world free of exploitation and risk?