Empowering Victims

Help fund empowerment programming for victims of human trafficking at a reintegration shelter in Sapa.

Sapa is located in the north-west mountains of Vietnam and is breathtaking, not only because of its natural beauty, but also due to its rich cultural diversity being home to eight different ethnic minority groups. Unfortunately, it has caught the attention of kidnappers, who snatch young indigenous women and sell them as brides or prostitutes in China. ‘Why Sapa?’ Well, it’s located only a short distance from the Chinese border and most of the girls are impoverished and uneducated, which makes them easy targets. According to statistics, one girl disappears in Sapa every two days.

There's hope:

Reintegration shelters offer a supportive environment for survivors of trafficking when returning home is not yet a safe or viable option. The shelters play an instrumental role in helping the young women regain self-confidence and establish self-sufficiency.

How can we help? These shelters in Sapa have communicated their need for empowerment programming. Luckily, I am a women's empowerment teacher and trainer. I have created empowerment curriculum and programming for New York City high schools, I have lead empowerment workshops internationally, and am now training other teachers in NYC to do what I do to empower young women across NYC's 5 boroughs.

The plan:

I will work with local community leaders to create and codify women's empowerment programming for Sapas's reintegration shelter and others like it in South Eastern Asian countries that are facing similar difficulties. We will work together to train local teachers from the community to facilitate programming.

If I am able to raise the full amount it will cover the cost of all program creation and implementation costs as well as 2 years of a local teacher's salary and 2 years of program costs.

Anything you can donate, big or small, WILL make a difference.