Small actions can have profound consequences. At The Freedom Story, we believe in growing change from the ground up, and that even the little choices we make can have a big impact on ourselves, our community, and the world around us.

Last month, our students celebrated World Cleanup Day with an activity to help the students be volunteer-minded and to help others in their community. They spent the day cleaning up trash and beautifying their neighborhoods.

There are so many positive effects from a simple, small action like just cleaning up!

Here are some benefits:

• It helps decrease the risk of trafficking because the students are using their free time in a healthy and beneficial way. Instead of wandering the city unattended, they can participate in a safe community program, have fun with their friends, and make a positive contribution.
• The community also can learn about and deepen relationships with The Freedom Story. Spending time with the local people allows The Freedom Story to stay close to their every day concerns, build partnerships of trust, and work together to find solutions to common problems. The villagers learn more about our work, and through casual conversation, we can still raise awareness about the risk of trafficking.
• The kids feel ownership over their community. Taking part in virtuous activities can raise their self-esteem, give them positive experiences involving helping their community, and they can take pride in their work.
• They can participate in the world around them. Even if students don’t have money, or fancy things, in a world that sometimes sends the message that they don’t have value, the students can learn from the activity that they can still be involved and be a valuable resource to the people around them.

Small actions. Big impact. We’re going to be talking more about this theme — stay tuned here and on our social media for something really exciting coming up soon!