It’s just a couple of days before Thanksgiving, and we are excited and proud to share all we have to be thankful for! It is stunning to look back over the decade-plus since we began and see how far prevention has come. We have a lot to be grateful for, and it wouldn’t have been possible without every single person on this list. 

We Are Thankful For…

Every achievement, every milestone, and every inch of progress made has been because of:

Donors who believe in going deep with prevention and protecting the vulnerable. You have provided the financial support that unlocked the doors that barred so many children from having hope about continuing their education. What would have been a dead end for so many became the pathway to thrive. 

Students who overcome incredible odds, and who honor the investment made in them. It’s possible, and maybe sometimes understandable when you’ve been through too much already, to be offered help and scrape by with it. But in story after story, as you’ll see with the ones we’re sharing (like Pim’s), the students are taking the opportunity and running with it. Over and over we see that they make choices that not only mean they eschew a path that leads to trafficking and exploitation, but they take what is given and make it into something phenomenal.

Families of students who trust us with their precious children and take a chance in accepting help. It is hard to accept help. It is hard to admit you need help. It is hard to turn to people you might barely know and entrust them with advising and mentoring your children, and to listen to their advice to let your children pursue opportunities sometimes farther from home than you would like. Trusting us to walk alongside them has given us such an honor, and we are both grateful and humbled by it.

Local community members who step up to the chance to learn and grow, gaining in resilience. The local community has also taken a chance in participating in our sustainability programs, and sharing their stories with us, so we could work together to spread knowledge of rights as well as dangers to be aware of. We have been able to grow so much over the years, thanks to their willingness to take part.

Staff who walk alongside the students, often above and beyond the call of duty. We tell you about how our staff advise and mentor the students. What we don’t often mention is how many hours after dinner time, on weekends, at the drop of a hat, at the ring of a middle-of-the-night phone call or text message, the staff devote to being there for the kids no. matter. what. They do it without being asked simply because it’s in their hearts and in their nature to do so. We do our best to help our staff with self-care so they don’t burn out, but honestly, they do what they do because, in their hearts, there’s no other option.  

Staff committed to collecting the data that helps prove the power of prevention. Being evaluated is risky – what if you come up short? Thankfully our staff have been incredibly brave about engaging in monitoring and evaluation to help us track how well our prevention programs work. Not only do they step up to provide the data needed for such evaluation but they’ve actually become excited to learn more about areas in which we can grow. This bravery has been essential to proving prevention works – and also discovering how it’s actually even more powerful than we imagined.

A Thailand director who has expanded and grown our networks. Prevention work isn’t just about what happens on the ground with the students and the community. It also comes with building networks of trust at local and national levels, where information and knowledge can be shared, support exchanged, and the profile of prevention can grow. Prevention doesn’t work in isolation; it takes more than a village. It takes everyone bringing their skills and knowledge to bear and sharing it.

Advisors, mentors, and partners. These people are our tribe. From board members to fellow advocates, to friends, these people have extended incredible amounts of support to help guide us as we navigate our way through combating trafficking in an ever-changing world. These networks show us daily we don’t have to do this work alone.

Other leaders in the anti-trafficking field. Friendships with others who also are committed to the fight to end trafficking and exploitation means we have a chance at combating this globally. We share our experiences with each other so that we can learn from each other. Collaboration gives us hope that one day we will see an end to trafficking – not just for our community, but for everyone.

And last but most definitely not least….

Everyone who has shared, commented, liked, and forwarded our messages on social media and elsewhere. Every single bit of support helps us feel encouraged, expands our reach, shares awareness about trafficking and the message of prevention, and is critical to making sure our programs keep running.

THANK YOU. To everyone on this list. YOU make the power of prevention possible.

We believe prevention is one of the keys to ending the trafficking of children. When we invest in their education and growth, we not only arm them with protection against those who would exploit them, we help them thrive. If you believe in prevention like we do, you can take part by helping ensure our prevention programs keep running in 2020. Please donate by December 31st to help us reach our $50,000 goal and your gift will be DOUBLED! Click HERE to Give Now!