“She’s 18 and doesn’t know the alphabet. She doesn’t know how to add or subtract.”
One of our Thailand partners shared the story of a young woman — we’ll call her Malee — who has worked since she was 10 years old. She’s never stepped foot inside a school. Never learned basic language or math skills.
Since labor jobs are limited until Thailand fully reopens on July 1, many girls in Malee’s position have been forced to do whatever they can to survive — even selling their bodies.
Today, you can help people in Thailand and around the world struggling to survive the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Your gift will help provide lifesaving aid like food, clean water, medical care, hygiene kits, and more.
Malee grew up way too fast. She couldn’t even enjoy her childhood. While many of her peers were running around the village playing or going to school, Malee was busy working.
By the time she was 10, Malee found herself being trafficked for child labor. She moved from one crummy job to another. Though she wasn’t born in Thailand, one of the jobs eventually brought her to Bangkok.
“She didn’t have any idea what was going to happen to her,” our Thailand partner said.
As a teenager, Malee was barely scraping by. She lacked any sort of formal education, so her job opportunities were few and far between. And the jobs she did land were always the same: long hours with very little pay.
It certainly wasn’t the life she dreamed of.
But the coronavirus pandemic has made things even worse for people like Malee.
Nationwide lockdowns left the majority of Thailand’s poor unemployed. They don’t have computers or the luxury or working from home. Many families have been out of work for three months … and since Thailand’s lockdown won’t be lifted until earliest July 1, they still have several weeks ahead.
Even after that, the financial fallout from this pandemic will make every day a struggle to survive for people who were already drowning in poverty.
People like Malee are desperate.
And desperate people do desperate things … like entering the sex industry.
When our partners met Malee, she wasn’t yet selling herself on the streets, but she was on her way there.
Your generosity is the key to pulling people like Malee back from the brink of desperation and pulling them through this pandemic.
Every $8 will help rescue one person! Your gift will help provide essentials like emergency food, medical care, hygiene kits, and more to families who need them most.
You’ll also be helping erase World Help’s budget shortfall left behind by canceled fundraising events. You’ll help keep our global programs running so people can continue to receive critical aid.
Wouldn’t you like to come out on the other side of this pandemic knowing you made a difference? You can. Just $8 is all it takes to help rescue one person!
From Thailand to Uganda to Brazil, the coronavirus continues to claim more lives and shutter more economies around the world. But you can help make sure another person survives this crisis.
You can be the answer to someone’s prayers.
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