Project Futures

Hi how are you everyone?  We miss you so much.  We are ok here.  Right now we stop studying English at home but we studying at University near our flat .   At school we so very happy because we have good teachers and classmates.

Thanks for your love and everything that you all supporting to us.

From us smart Voices for Change.

I would like to tell everyone about my English before I can’t speak English but now I can speak in English but not well every day I’m try to speak and read it because I hope after that I can speak read and write well.

Chai Veourn

As of late last month, I have been appointed to be the first Partnership Liaison for PROJECT FUTURES in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from April 2012. Many of you may wish to know, however, what has caused me to make the move?

This journey started last year, early on a cold July morning at my family home in Concord.

I was recovering from a shoulder reconstruction, lying in bed, in a world of pain, quite frustrated with the world and that the surgery was going to mean I would actually never play rugby union again.

It was at this moment that I flicked on the TV in which a documentary was being played about Christian missionaries who ran an orphanage in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The kids in the documentary gave me an instant flashback to the girls in the AFESIP shelters in Cambodia. This alerted me to the fact that maybe my time in Cambodia, which at this point had been in brief through the FUTURES 10’ bikeride (Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap), wasn’t finished.

But receiving a call to go somewhere is great; the next obvious question is to think, well, what are you going to do over there?

In order to gain some clarity I spent 3 weeks in Cambodia in December 2011.The majority of my time was spent spending time doing outreach and research work with AFESIP and The Somaly Mam Foundation. I was able to spend considerable time with young women whom have been rescued from the terrible trade of sex trafficking. This including shelter visits, brothel outreach and English classes. It was on this trip that PROJECT FUTURES CEO Stephanie Lorenzo and I outlined the key action points for the ‘Partnership Liaison’ role.

I should also tell you about one of the former victims I got know quite well on the trip. While working in a brothel as a child, she was physically abused to the point that she now has an inoperable disfigurement. She was rescued and now works as a ‘Voices for Change’ representative for the Somaly Mam Foundation in Cambodia advocating the abolition of trafficking. This girl is disfigured by Western standards but one of the most beautiful people I have ever met. It is experiences like this that make the prospect of working for PROJECT FUTURES such a privilege.

Tom Watson
PROJECT FUTURES Partnership Liaison
February 2012

*Name withheld for privacy reasons

Dear all
Hi how are you? What are you doing?

With the sunn setting on 2011, it seems like a good idea to highlight some of Project Future’s most important achievements.

Earlier in the year, Project Futures (Australia) partnered with the Somaly Mam Foundation (SMF) to create Project Futures global (based in the US). This union demarcated the beginning of PF’s global crusade against sex trafficking.

Fast-forward a few months later and PF campaign got a big boost by some ‘stella fella’ celebrity supporters such as Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian, TV Personality James Kerley and Rugby League star Jared Hayne, just to name a few. Later, Project Futures held the first ‘Stella Fella’ event to raise awareness about sex trafficking and servitude by awarding upstanding men who share the same values and have made crucial contributions to their community. The power to bestow this title lay in the hands of the public and they decided that Phil Hoken, the 30 year old mechanic/footwear genius, was the most ‘stella’ of the ‘stella fellas’ nominated.

October saw the launch of the “Freedom Advocate Project” in Parliament House, Canberra. This program, a run in conjunction with the Salvation Army, provides training and networking to survivors of trafficking with the aim of affecting policy change. These survivors know the realities and adversities of trafficking and it is hoped that as the program grows, its impact will too.

In November, 20 riders took up the Cycle Down Under challenge to ride from Sydney to Canberra. More challenging however, was the ride from Laos to Cambodia, undertaken by 28 brave riders to raise funds for sex trafficking survivors in Cambodia, with the help of the ever-radiant Somaly Mam. Together, they raised $110,000 for AFESIP and the Somaly Mam Foundation.

So these have been some of the most important events in PF’s 2011. And what an amazing year it has been for this young organisation. Keep up the great work!

This video is quite old, but it continues the message of my last post: be grateful for what you have and spare a thought for the others who have very little

Watch the video here.

“On the twenty-third day of Christmas my true love sent to me, a text to remind me to conclude the present shopping and to further decorate our tree…”

Armed with a full wallet, loose change for the parking metre and a load of enviro bags, I was ready for my mission. While waiting at the traffic lights, I could already see that my local shopping centre was abuzz with activity from my car window. The shops are open until midnight today, and it seems like everyone in town is taking advantage of the extended hours.

The oncoming holiday season is a relief for many after a busy year. Its exciting, joyful and at times challenging so, it’s understandable that identifying the origin of our intended Christmas gifts sit low on the priority list. Personally however, I couldn’t help but wonder if little hands were involved in making my chosen product or whether a fair exchange of wage for labour was considered best practice at the factory where my gifts were manufactured. My shopping choices should make a positive difference for farmers and workers in developing countries and they can, if I purchase products that bear the Fair Trade logo.

Project futures cycle challenge finished in cambodia for 2011. They raised $110,000 for AFESIP and our hard work. They love us very much and support the girls.

In the flurry of modern civilisation, it is too easy to be self-consumed.

“Where’s my coffee?!” you shout at the barista.

“I want the new [insert Apple product]”.

“My train is late….again!”

Do these complaints roll of your tongue (as easy as it does mine)? If so, perhaps, both you and I should just quit complaining and be thankful that we have access to new technology, reasonable public transport, and food and drink.

With Christmas less than a month away, there is no other perfect time to thank others for their generosity and good will. The most common people usually come to mind – parents, family, friends, doctors, nurses (just to name a few). However, thanking people for their services is but one aspect of gratitude.

Behind the veil of society and progress, there lies the murky underbelly of a city riddled with poverty, crime and disadvantage. In Australia, it is estimated that eleven percent (2.2 million people) of the population live below the poverty line. But this statistic is often criticised for being subjective, with outcomes dependant on the kind of measure utilised. Be that as it may, it does not detract from the fact that there are people in our so called ‘lucky’ country who are anything but. Worldwide, there are over one billion people who live in extreme poverty and as a result lack the basic essentials that we fortunate ones take for granted. These people live on just US$1.25 a day. That won’t even get you a cup of coffee.

Our basic freedoms are denied to those who are suppressed by whatever means – through tyrannical government or slavery and human trafficking. Of course, Project Futures has done a great deal to open my eyes to the injustices in society.

From Brisbane to Bangkok, America to Africa and the recent Arab Spring, it seems that this year has provided the world with its fair share of disasters. Yet, we shout in fury when stuck in traffic, immediately taking to social media to express our rage, when there our people living in places where water is an eight hour walk away and the internet is an alien concept. Often, we do not think to be grateful for having a car, well paved roads, electricity, clean water or a McDonald’s (open 24/7) just a mere twenty minute drive away. Moreover, how often are we thankful for just living? Or having clothes to wear, food to eat and our loved ones alive and well?

This message has been circulated time and time again. But it seems that it has not sunk in yet. In our age of progress it is easy to be forgetful of those who are most in need.  So perhaps, it is time that you and I, be grateful for the simple rather than the extravagant. We can worship Steve Jobs for inventing the Ipod or thank those who made Australia liveable.

So this Christmas (and beyond) we could all be that much more thankful for our lives… and spare a thought for those who struggle to live theirs.