2020: The Year of the Harvest
This March is our 12th anniversary of rescuing girls from sexual exploitation and rehabilitating them in our SHE Rescue Home.
We have seen the immediate effects in so many lives as we bring girls out of very dark places into new light where they can be educated, loved upon and healed. But for the first time, we are starting to see the long-term effects of our work, now that the young girls who we rescued 12 years ago are living the futures they once hoped for.
Srey Sok* and Chity* were both rescued in 2008, the first year of the SHE Rescue Home. They were just 7 and 8 years old at the time. We made it a priority, as with every case, to provide education in order to give them opportunities and have great dreams for the future.
Srey Sok* was reintegrated back with her family just 6 months later and Chity* was reintegrated in 2012. We continued to support the girls financially and with counsellors and social workers for the next 3 years and they continued their studies.
Excitingly, we were able to close their cases - in 2013 for Srey Sok* and 2015 for Chity*. This is no small event; to decide that a survivor of sexual exploitation is safe and stable in every aspect of her life and no longer needs our support is incredible.
Both girls are so bright and they were still keen to keep studying after their case closed so we continued to fund their education. This year they are both in their final year of high school and already choosing courses to study at university after graduation. Chity* has been accepted into advanced courses for all her subjects for year 12.
They are both so inspiring in what they have achieved. It’s hard to believe they were ever disadvantaged, having to work through the effects of being sexually exploited so young.
Beyond funding their education, we gave their parents the opportunity to work for us through the HER Initiative program. Giving the parents stable work has been vital for both Srey Sok* and Chity* to study these 12 years.
It has relieved the girls of the responsibility and burden of needing to work to contribute financially to the family.
With significant ongoing health problems in Chity's* family, the employment we provide plus buying the medication they need has allowed the family to stay out of debt. Their parents working from home has allowed both Chity* and Srey Sok* to remain in school, especially Srey Sok*, who only has her single mum looking after her.
It’s so exciting to see Srey Sok* and Chity* step into the lives they’ve been designing since 12 years ago. Chity* wants to become a doctor or a water resource engineer that researches how to get clean water to communities through planning & engineering and Srey Sok* wants to study English next year to help her in any career once she decides what she wants to do.
We planted a seed a long time ago and we are now seeing the harvest. These two girls truly have what it takes to be world changers. They have worked so hard to be more than what society said they could be. It's amazing that they are taking hold of that and using it for good as they step into careers that not only radically change their lives and their families' lives, but they are impacting their community in big ways.
They are truly trailblazers, paving the way for so many survivors to come. They are personifications of hope for their generation. And they are proof that there is a harvest coming for each girl we rescue.
Stay tuned for more success stories; 2020 is the year of harvest! We're excited to share about all the girls that came into the home in the first few years and the transformation that has taken place over the past decade.