Child Labor2009
Thailand TH
She has the sweetest face, the biggest smile. You’d never know the heartache hidden in her heart. Her name is Manee, just 6 years old when she came into HE this year. She came in so hungry for hugs and love. Both were sadly lacking in her family. She has the sweetest face, the biggest smile. You’d never know the heartache hidden in her heart. She is so tiny – it is hard to imagine someone wanting to beat someone so little, so defenseless. Her mother is not there to defend her as during the day, she is hired to work in someone else’s fields. Manee’s future looked bleak, until HE came to her village. After assessing the needs, after talk and more talk with the mother and stepfather, Manee was released into the care of HE A safe place at last for a tiny little girl with a wounded heart. That’s Manee.
Child Labor2008
Thailand TH
In two separate cases, young Burmese children were rescued from trafficking situations. Pim, the girl, is eight years old. Her Burmese mother forced 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 donors is tough business. The abolitionist Kru Nam hears through the street grapevine that the mother is looking to sell Pim to the highest bidder. The boy, Kho, is 11. Two years ago he was trafficked into Thailand for child labor. He escaped and found refuge at Buddies along the Roadside. 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 passed, and Kru Nam ran into Kho in the streets of Mae Sai. 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.