Since The Sold Project began 4 1/2 years ago, their scholarship program to keep girls in Thailand out of prostitution has grown to 120 students! These are girls who could not have afforded the cost of school otherwise, and because girls in Thailand are expected from an early age to earn money for their families, these sponsored students would likely have left their villages, gone into the city, and prostituted themselves in “restaurants”.
Since I learned about Sold this last Spring, it is noticeably growing. Sold is competing, along with 68 other organizations, in The Girl Effect, a month-long campaign in November to earn a one-year spot on the Girl Effect fundraising page on GlobalGiving.org. At the end of November, the 6 projects with the highest number of unique donors win a spot to take part in The Girl Effect. The Sold Project’s goal is to get 1000 donors. Securing a spot at Global Giving could mean amazing growth for Sold in the next year.
You can learn more on Sold’s homepage at www.thesoldproject.com. There are so many good non-profits in the world that have to vie for our money. We cannot give to every one that needs us. We all have to find the cause that moves us. In the news headlines I read around the world, child abuse is one that weighs on my heart, as children are the most vulnerable, innocent, and exploitable targets. Child abuse comes in different ways and varying degrees. Child prostitution is preventable, by fighting the poverty that drives them to it.
“What is the difference between a child trafficked into a brothel, held there by a trafficker, and a child selling sex on the streets, held there by poverty? The difference is that we can point our finger at the trafficker, but poverty is the fault of all humanity. To the child, there is no difference.” Rachel Goble
