It is not easy to come to a foreign country alone and start a new life. I want to share something with you to help you understand me and why I started this project.
Don't know my father, my mother raised me almost but it was difficult for her to earn enough money to support us. I wanted to have an education so I could make money and not have to be hungry. My mother could not pay for me to go to school (it's almost 1 million baht per year) so I left my home and went to Germany where school is much cheaper. When I arrived in Germany I only knew 1 other girl, I could not speak the language and I didn't have papers to work or to go to school. I was 17. Some people like Susie's brother were nice to me and gave me something to eat, other people would say rude things because they didn't like immigrants in their country. One day a woman offered me a job at a resort in Austria (a nearby country). I was so excited to have a job I didn't think anything bad. We drove for hours and arrived at the house that was not a resort. Men took my passport and bag of clothes and told me I could not leave. They tried to sell me to other men. They ripped my dress and hurt me. There were about 12 other girls and 1 boy there that they were selling. After a few days they transferred me to another house and I escaped. But I felt I could not go home. I went back to Germany and made a new passport. I started working cleaning rooms in a hotel and then cooking in a kitchen. I was very thankful to have a job that was safe. But it was difficult for me because of what I survived. Even when everything was ok sometimes my mind was crazy. I thought a lot about the others girls who were enslaved in bars and brothels and houses. I worked for 3 years to earn money to go to school and then went back to America to go to college.
I decided to start Daughters Rising to help 12 other girls who were in the same situation as I had been in. Having a dream but not having money to study. I wanted to make sure they could persue their dreams and be supported and safe. Now Daughters Rising has affected more than 12 girls. We have help build a school in Cambodia for 200 children and also support education for Karen children and several university students in Thailand. Daughters Rising raises awareness about human trafficking online with an audience of over 10,000 people daily. We are building new phone applications and websites that use technology to help keep girls safe.
One of Daughters Rising's project's is the Chai Lai Orchid.Trafficking in a problem that is closely linked to poverty and migration. And it can be prevented simple by giving girls better options. The Chai Lai Orchid is a pilot project that aims to create a paid training opportunity to minority girls. The Chai Lai Orchid can provide all the skills for a successful job in the hospitality industry, plus help to find a job or a loan to start a bussiness. We want to empowerment girls to become self sufficient and to help their communities.
So this is why I'm here working a without vacation, a car or a paycheck. It's my passion to see you succeed. I know that a girls life doesn't have to be defined by her village, her parents or her past. Don't ever give up you drams. Don't worry if some people look down on us because we seem small and quiet, they do not know the strength of our hearts. "They tried to bury us, they did not know that we are seeds.