Monday, March 16, 2009

get 7x's return on your investment and save a life!










A WORTHY PROJECT THAT DESERVES OUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION

CALL+RESPONSE has been working with the Not For Sale Campaign to fund an inspirational front-line activist in Thailand named Kru Nam. She is an unstoppable force who is rescuing children from sex slavery and raising them....herself. At any one time she has over 150 kids in her clinic. She is the real deal!




















As members of the 21st Century Abolitionist Movement, we have a critical opportunity to seriously help her. $1.8 Million in medical supplies are ready to be shipped to care for the 174 children currently in her clinic. This shipment is full of desperately needed medicines (SEE HERE) and equipment which will be sent on March 26th, IF WE CAN RAISE $26,000 IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. That's a $70 return for every dollar invested.
{100% of all donations goes to the shipment.}

To learn more about the project go HERE. {the story is posted below}

Please respond now to get nearly $2M in medical supplies to children rescued from slavery.

$10 donation = $700 return for those children. The math is undeniable. Take 3 minutes to GIVE.

With our gratitude for your partnership,

The Call+Response Team




Story from the link above:

Enable Not For Sale to build a Health Clinic Stocked with $500,000 in Medicines and Supplies to Provide Care for Hundreds of Children.

Amount Needed: $57,500

Purpose: To construct, equip, and staff a clinic in northern Thailand at the Buddies Along the Roadside Project (10 miles from the border with Myanmar and Thailand.) This clinic will not only serve the needs of all 125 children at the Center, but healthcare will also be extended to all the students that attend local public schools. The primary purpose of this is to create the maximum positive health impact for the community, but also has the benefit of addressing negative stigma that may be attached to Buddies children. Since they have all been rescued from child and sexual slavery, the children have been viewed by teachers and peers as "dirty" and bringing in sickness to other children.

Based on bids already provided, construction of the clinic will cost $30,000.

$500,000 in medical equipment, supplies and medicines will be shipped to the clinic shortly thereafter by the organization Giving Children Hope, with the only cost incurred amounting to $27,000 (a $20:1 return on investment.)

About the Village and abolitionist Kru Nam:

Kru Nam had learned of kids of her city of Chang Mai, who had been put into the karaoke clubs and the brothels of Thailand, in order to serve the pleasures of men, who came from all over the world to take advantage of these young kids sexually. Kru Nam was incensed when she learned how they were being exploited. She began running into the clubs, and rescuing them.

Today, Kru Nam has rescued 120 kids from child slavery. Not For Sale built a village for these children. The village includes one dorm, with four more in construction. There is a large kitchen for the entire village, a place where they can go to school, and an art center for the kids. The children who live there take active roles in caring for the home, including planting shrubbery around the new dorms and working to provide food for the village. For instance, they grew 250 kilograms of rice in the recent harvest, though all of that was gone in one week. 120 is a lot of mouths to feed.

David Batstone, Myanmar/Thai Border… June 2008

I am in a van with two children fast asleep on the seat, the kids sandwiched between myself and the Thai abolitionist Kru Nam. We are driving back from the border town of Mae Sai where a narrow river and a simple bridge are all that segregates Thailand from Myanmar. One boy, one girl, both Burmese, have just escaped hell. I feel privileged to be a part of the experience. The girl, Pim, is eight years old. Her Burmese mother forces her to go to the border bridge every day to beg for money.

The mom is addicted to opium which grows widely in the Golden Triangle region. The mother tells Pim not to come home unless she comes back with 300 baht (roughly $10). With local events in Myanmar already depressing the low tourist season, finding willing donors is tough business. Kru Nam hears through the street grapevine that the mother is looking to sell Pim.

When she tracks the mom down, Kru Nam makes an offer. I’ll give you 500 baht if you let Pim come live with me at our children's village. The mother agrees, and Pim now sleeps peacefully, cradled into Kru Nam’s arm in our van.

The boy next to me, Kho, is 11. Two years ago he was trafficked into Thailand for child labor. He escaped and found refuge at Buddies Along the Roadside, Kru Nam’s village. You can watch a video of the history of the village. His Burmese family made contact and demanded that Kho come back home, and Kru Nam happily complied with their request to reunite Kho with his family. Two months have passed, and we ran into Kho in the streets of Mae Sai today. He begged Kru Nam to return to Buddies. His family is forcing him to sell drugs ­ primarily ice and amphetamines ­ on each side of the border. When kids are caught selling drugs, the police treat them lightly. Adults, on the other hand, will be sentenced to long prison terms. So many adults use kids as their drug peddlers. Kho has spent two years in school and living with a community of hope. He is now on his way back home.

Two children tell the story of children for sale more powerfully than any set of statistics I could offer. Once again, my heart is broken.

About Not For Sale:

Not For Sale is a campaign of students, entrepreneurs, artists, people of faith, athletes, law enforcement officers, social workers, skilled professionals, and all justice seekers, united to fight the global slave trade.

It is a grassroots, non-profit organization originated from University of San Francisco professor Dr. David Batstone’s book, Not For Sale, and has expanded into one of the leading forces mobilizing a contemporary abolitionist movement. Inside the United States, the campaign identifies trafficking rings and collaborates with local law enforcement and community groups to shut them down and provide support for the victims. Internationally, the campaign partners with poorly resourced abolitionist groups to enhance their capacity and develop programs.

Examples include its safe house in Ghana for kids rescued from slavery in the fishing industry on Lake Volta and another safe house for exploited children in Peru.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Maggie, thanks for posting this story on your blog. This is Jenise from Giving Children Hope. You can find the full story about the medical clinic here: http://www.gchope.org/saved-from-slavery.html

Thank you for spreading the word and helping us to serve Kru Nam and these kids in Thailand!