Below is an article from today's online Vientiane Times regarding AFESIP. We have written on our Laos Essential Artistry website about the importance of giving back and we quote Oprah Winfrey who said that ""Life is a reciprocal exchange. To move forward you have to give back" ~ from her Stanford Commencement Address, June, 2008 and how we support two projects, Big Brother Mouse (literacy) and AFESIP. We sell silk Dok Champa flowers made by girls who are being helped by AFESIP. It's a great project and we are excited that the US Embassy has chose to financially help AFESIP. We wrote an earlier post on AFESIP here.
"The US embassy to Laos yesterday provided US$16,500 to the Acting for Women in Distressing Circumstances (AFESIP) project in Laos to assist in the fight against human trafficking.
The signing ceremony was held at AFESIP's office in Vientiane , and inked by Country Project Director of AFESIP Dr Didier Bertrand and the US Deputy Chief of Mission , Mr Peter Haymond.
“The grant from the US for art therapy and awareness-raising will be set up with immigration and customs regional teams working with children. There will be two courses next month for officials on the prevention of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children,” Dr Bertrand said.
He said art therapy could be used in an innovative way both as a healing technique and for awareness raising.
Residents of shelters and recently reintegrated victims and survivors will join together to draw and paint to share messages with their families and the community.
In early 2010, they will use clay sculpture techniques as they work with a clinical psychologist to express their feelings in three dimensional productions, he said.
“We hope to set up exhibitions in Vientiane and in Savannakhet and Luang Prabang provinces. Details need to be finalised with those who produced the materials. We know there should be a mobile exhibition, probably at first in a district in Luang Prabang,” he said.
He said Laos was one of those nations that suffered from human trafficking, especially of young girls.
Girls were sometimes lured to work in bars, or as cleaners and then forced to offer sexual services. This could happen within the country or, more commonly, in another country.
“These girls do not know what is going to happen to them. They think they will work cleaning tables or serving in a bar. Then they are forced to become involved in the sexual trade, yet continue to suffer on a low income while the owners of these establishments gain twice as much profit or more from each transaction,” Dr Bertrand said.
“We are looking to help young girls, especially of the ages of 14 to 16, to understand the dangers of society before allowing them to work in other places.”
He said his organisation was working with Savannakhet and Champassak provinces, where police had been very active.
Champassak had nearly eradicated the situation of underage girls working in bars, because police constantly checked identification cards. Meanwhile, the situation in Savannakhet is also improving.
“By increasing cooperation with local authorities, we hope to find no more children in bars and other such places in Laos ,” he said.
There are many ways to help the victims, he said, such as punishing those who bought sex with children, ensuring law enforcement was more effective, offering women more creative jobs and giving them the chance to access education and vocational skills.
Unfortunately, trafficking in persons continued to harm people around the world in both developed and developing countries, Mr Haymond said.
“It is a problem that the US government is committed to help solve. This grant is for a new project to use art as a way to help victims of trafficking to cope with their experiences. We are proud to support this project, which will operate in Vientiane and Savannakhet.”
The US embassy would continue to work with the Lao government and international organisations in Laos to fight human trafficking, he said.
Human trafficking is the second-largest form of organised crime in the world. UNICEF statistics estimate that every year, more than one million young children and women are sold into sexual slavery and exposed to physical violence, abuse, rape and conditions of extreme physical and psychological cruelty."
By Panyasith Thammavongsa
(Latest Update October 29, 2009)
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