At an age when most children might be preparing for their first day of school, Srey, 6, already has undergone trauma that is almost unspeakable. She was sold to a brothel by her parents when she was 5. It is not known how much her family got for Srey, but other girls talk of being sold for $100; one was sold for $10. Before she was rescued, Srey endured months of abuse at the hands of pimps and sex tourists. Passed from man to man, often drugged to make her compliant, Srey was a commodity at the heart of a massive, multimillion-dollar sex industry in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.1
Around the world, more than 1 million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade each year, according to the U.S. State Department. The State Department believes Cambodia is a key transit and destination point in this trade.
Cambodia has lost its fathers, mothers and grandparents to the Killing Fields leaving large numbers of very vulnerable and poverty stricken children. Over 42% of the population is under 15 years old. It has become common to sell young girls and boys to brothels where they are first 'broken down' and then abused horribly by many 'customers' each day. A small portion of their meager earnings are sent back to support their families.
TransformAsia has developed a range of programs through the years to address this horrible crime against those close to God's heart and against the very fabric of society. They are committed to making a strategic difference.
Years ago Randa and Setan began rescuing girls from brothels. They soon realized that they would need to provide skills training and vocational opportunities for the girls to support themselves. So, they started the first Transformation Center. This has become very successful and many young women have graduated, getting jobs or opening their own shops. Many of these ladies are now happily married.
Over the years, the TransformAsia leadership began to have a burden to rescue the girls before they were sold to the brothels and were abused day after day, year after year. So many emotional scars could be avoided. Thus, they began developing the Protect a Child program to help highly vulnerable children and their families to gain hope and a vision for the future through the love of Christ. They also developed the Compassionate Prevention boarding program for those who had no other options and were very likely to end up in the trade.2
C.R.E.W. will be in Cambodia, in October assisting TransformAsia at their Transformation Center in Batnambang. We will be building a kitchen and dining room to accommadate the growing number of women and girls staying there. You can help these women and girls help themselves. You can be a part of their lives each day by helping to build this much needed facility. We need funds to purchase materials and hire local craftsman in country. 100% of your donation will go to this project. We are a 501(c)3 corporation, so your donation is tax deductible. A donation of any size will be a huge blessing to these ladies.
You can go to www.hisworkforce.org to donate securely with Paypal or Google checkout. Or send a check to CREW at the address below.
1 excerpt from http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/01/23/sex.workers/index.html
2 excerpt from http://www.transformasia.us
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