When we started planning our 15th-anniversary celebration, we didn’t anticipate feeling compelled to share a message like this. Events in recent weeks have prompted us to want to share why we’re deliberately choosing celebration, even in the face of darkness. 

There is a lot of darkness in the world right now, and it can be hard not to feel overwhelmed. We don’t want to compare grief or suffering – our experience shows that to usually be unhelpful. However, working in anti-trafficking for as long as we have, we have some experience with what it is like to be confronted with some of the worst aspects of humanity. And what it’s like to deliberately choose optimism, hope, dedication, and, yes, even joy. 

We’ve made similar choices in the past, with our commitment to Ethical Storytelling – we could focus on the worst things our students have had to face, but we choose to focus on stories that are dignifying and uplifting to honor their humanity.

Here’s how we’re choosing celebration

For our 15th Anniversary, we’re choosing to focus on students who’ve already graduated. Students who are no longer at risk. These are the students for whom prevention has worked, to celebrate what 15 years of prevention has helped them achieve and share how they and 400 others like them are thriving because of your support. 

So often, we focus on the problems we still face. We don’t always take the opportunity to see how our seed planting bears fruit in the lives of these young people. We have a bigger impact than we realize sometimes, because, truthfully, our good work impacts these young people for their whole lives.

This giving season, we’re inviting you to celebrate with us – not in spite of the darkness, but because of the strength it affords us to confront the darkness. We hope you’ll join our party to hear directly from one of our graduated students, Somying. And keep an eye on this space for more student stories to come.

Thank you for standing with us and protecting vulnerable children.