From a streetwalker to a small business owner
Palma’s name used to be a number. She was one of tens of thousands of girls working in the bars of Thailand’s red-light district. Palma felt like just another face in the crowd, another dancer up on a stage — for sale to the highest bidder. Palma, whose name we’ve...
Poverty and culture rob girls of dignity
Som had the deck stacked against her from day one. She was 20 when she got pregnant with her first child and became the caregiver for a sick, elderly relative. “How will I provide for them?” she asked herself, knowing few people would hire an uneducated girl from the...
Koy is an orphan from a slum — but don’t count her out yet
On my trip last week to Bangkok, Thailand, I got to meet the newest residents at the Freedom Home there — including a 15-year-old girl I’ll call Koy. Koy’s mother was a sex worker. Her older sister died of AIDS, and her other sister has HIV. But thanks to generous...
The Christmas party that changed Palma’s life
Christmas is supposed to be a time of celebrating with loved ones. But for many people around the world — it’s a lonely season. I’ve just returned from visiting women in some of Thailand’s largest red-light districts, which, in my opinion, is one of the loneliest...
On Human Rights Day, help set one girl free
In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly met to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This was just a few years after the end of World War II, and the world was still grappling with the injustices that had been imposed on people because of their race,...
Every day, I try to live my life in such a way that I accomplish at least one thing that will outlive me and last for eternity.