Myanmar – Belinda Pao

This is my second year with Mrs. Yoda, and I was fortunate enough to go to Myanmar with CLinked. This year, we focused on educating a group of motivated and talented students who are becoming licensed teachers this fall. These students came from all over Myanmar, from bustling cities like Yangon to more rural areas such as Phyay. This group of students has been attending school in a church in Yangon under the care of Sister Grace. There, they have been able to receive education.

The lesson gave everyone the chance to understand the process of and how to prevent human trafficking. But more importantly, it enlightened the people in the room of the frighteningly ubiquitous nature of human trafficking, and how the myriad ways it can entice, damage and permanently debilitate someone’s livelihood. Human trafficking has been and still is a major problem in our world today. But what immediately shocked everyone in the room was how under-informed everyone is with regards to this crime. Compared to poverty, famine, and sanitation, human trafficking seems to fly under the radar for most people and governments. This is one of the reasons behind the terrible success of human trafficking.

At the beginning of the class, Ms. Junko showed the class a short film, introducing the effects of human trafficking. What struck most people right away was that people whom the victims knew and trusted had led all the victims of human trafficking into the trade. Afterwards, she presented a PowerPoint that gave crucial information on how to spot human trafficking, the causes of human trafficking, the 7 roles in such a transaction and also how to reduce the chance of you being trafficked. During the process, she also covered the Law of Myanmar. To my surprise, the students were unfamiliar with some very basic laws. This showed many men and women across the country are in a vulnerable state as they are innocent to their surroundings regarding the issue of human trafficking.

As the first session came to an end, the bell rang and everyone stood up and left. Not knowing where to go or what to do, I was very confused, but a few girls from the class came to me and brought me to the kitchen. It was lunchtime! As their guest, we were treated with the utmost kindness. We were treated with their local vegetables and meat, along with the delicious fish balls infused in chili sauce. Before I could catch my breath, I was rushed back to the classroom with the rest of the class, to prepare for a skit. The class was divided into 3 groups, one to focus on the migration aspect in human trafficking, one to raise awareness and one to show the betrayal of trusted family and friends. Between these three skits, we were able to demonstrate the consequences of being trafficked and learn how to prevent such a situation from happening. At the end of the session, Ms Junko asked the class what is their next step moving forward. Most of them said after graduating, they will return to their own city and hope to raise awareness of human trafficking, provide education for the local children but also teach them the knowledge of human trafficking with the hope of reducing the trafficking rate. Others replied similarly. They also said that even though they may not have the power to rescue others, they are now able to protect themselves.

Before we had to leave, the students bade us goodbye with a farewell song. It wasn’t only beautifully sung but also touching, and it gave me a moment to reflect on the few hours we spent together. They had welcomed me from the moment I stepped in and had not treated me differently, but as one of their own. For this, I am grateful to have met a group of such wonderful people. I believe that they will become great teachers in their own right and hopefully I will see them again in the near future.

Although the predominant purpose of the session was to teach the teacher trainees, it was an enriching experience for myself as well. The session gave me an even deeper scope to human trafficking. I have always known that human trafficking is a problem, but this session revealed to me the true scale of the threat we all face. It has also imbued me with a greater resolve to learn more and to contribute as much as possible in the fight with human trafficking. I am confident that while my contributions may not be much initially in the grand scheme of things, but with the help of Clinked, if we can save just one more person from human trafficking, that is one more victory against this injustice. And that is why I love being part of Clinked. They are working to make things happen, for each and every child, one child at a time.

Vietnam Phu Hiep Project

I was really excited to be a part of CLinked and to contribute to the Phu Hiep Project. I am a Vietnamese American living and working in Singapore.

I worked with Junko (CLinked Founder) and Sung Hae (Education Advisor) for a few months to create a module about Hygiene so that we could go to Hue and train the trainers in Hue.  I just finished a course in Instructional Design so I was eager to put my new skills to use, but it was not always easy. We worked through multiple drafts and talked through many logistical details. Sometimes it was hard to find a time for the 3 of us to meet. Sometimes it was hard to balance this against work. I knew in the end that it would be worth it, but nothing could prepare me for the emotions of the actual day I would spend in Hue.

My flight into Hue was delayed (and I learned that this is pretty common for domestic flights), so when I landed in Hue I went straight to the Phu Hiep community with no time to change. One of the artisans, Be, took me to her home so that I could change. When we made it to her home, she opened the door to an open shared area and pointed to the bedroom just a few feet ahead where I could change. There was no door, but rather a tin wall that separated the bedroom from the living room. I stepped behind the wall to find a small cushioned blanket which I believe served as a bed. I quickly got changed and headed into the community room with Be. Being physically in Phu Hiep made it so much more real than I expected.

A young girl from the Phu Hiep community posing with her bike

                Phu Hiep Community Center

That evening, I delivered the Hygiene Course to a group of young children ages 10 and under at the community center. The evening went as I would have expected. The children were were engaged, and we had many activities and icebreakers to keep their attention. I was so grateful to have Phuong, translate the course. I can speak Vietnamese but I did not want to deliver the course in Vietnamese so that the children could focus on the content rather than a foreign accent. The artisans observed my teaching in preparation for train the trainers the following day. They also had homework: they would pick a lesson and prepare to present one lesson to their peers the following day.

Phu Hiep team including: children of  Phu Hiep, Artisans: No, Be, Lun, My 1, My 2, Trinh, Aya Takayashi & Makiko Ohno (2 of founders of Phu Hiep Happy Project), Junko Yoda (founder of CLinked), Akikmoto san & Motoki san (volunteer photographers), Phuong Truong (translator)

The children enjoying an activity

Children enjoying the Hygiene Module

Teaching the children about Hygiene

I spent the next day training the trainers at the jewelry studio. What amazed me about the artisans is the amount of dedication, effort, and motivation. I spent the whole day with them to train them to teach about Hygiene. Our agenda was so packed that sometimes even I felt a bit tired so I was surprised and pleased to find that they were constantly engaged throughout the whole day and their energy and enthusiasm to learn remained high until the end.

Giving the artisans tips on teaching

Initially when I met the artisans I was shy. I wasn’t sure how the day would go, how they would receive the material, and the type of impression that I would make on them. I could tell that most of them were shy as well. They were quiet and and would kindly chuckle at my broken Vietnamese. When I asked questions, they were not eager to raise their hands even though I could tell that they were paying attention. As I started to know them better throughout the day, I felt more connected to each one of them. For example, one of the activities was for each artisan to present a module to the group and receive feedback. There seemed to be different levels of preparation and confidence within the group, however I was amazed to find that when I had 1x1 time with the artisans and they presented to only me, that each person had a strong desire to learn and improve. I was surprised to find that the ones who seemed to be under prepared were able to present 10 times better 1x1, when they didn’t have their peers watching and observing. I was surprised to find that quietest and most shy person was in fact one of the strongest learners and presenters. I was so proud of them.

Trinh presenting the How to Brush Your Teeth lessons to the group

Towards the end, we were all tired but happy to be there

I knew what my mission was in working with CLinked and contributing to Phu Hiep, but I was surprised at my own emotions. At the end, each person shared feedback about the day. A few of the artisans said that they surprised themselves and that the the training helped them to gain confidence that they didn’t know had. They could not imagine ever presenting to a group, and they were proud of themselves. Hearing that made so happy and so proud of them but at the same time, I was sad because this very special group of young ladies not only have so much potential, but they also have a true desire to learn. It was difficult to know the reality was that they would not have the same education opportunities that I did.

My grandparents left Vietnam after the war. I could have easily in the same shoes as these beautiful artisans. I will forever be grateful to them for giving me so much of them during this visit to the Phu Hiep community in Hue.

Phu Hiep Artisans from left to right: My 2, Trinh, No, Lun, Be, My 1

Asia Community Leadership and Organizing Training

January 25, 2015 - January 29, 2015

CLinked together with five Singapore facilitators trained refugee camp teachers and youth leaders in community leadership and anti-human trafficking.

My Trip to Hue

My Trip to Hue

Hi, I’m Belinda; I’m 15 years old, studying in Cheltenham Ladies College in the UK. This summer I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Vietnam with Clinked as their summer intern. In our two-day trip in Hue, we were packed with an intense schedule, and within that short period of time, I’ve not only learned about their culture but I was also able to meet the children in The Happy Project. This experience was truly eye opening and I hope I would be able to visit the children in Phu Hiep again! Below are some things we did in Hue:

Day 1

On the 21st of August 2014, I arrived Da Nang to meet with one of Clinked’s co-founders, Junko Yoda. Straight away we set off to Hue, which was 2 hours away from the city. When we arrived Hue, Aya Takayashi, one of the three founders of Phu Hiep, whom has also been working with the children in The Happy project for 7 years came to welcome us along with her two assistants Mi and Mi. Phu Hiep is an organization launched in 2010 by a group of Japanese designers with the hope and vision of giving young children a bright future. Within the organization, there are Phu Hiep accessories, and their accessories are all hand made by artisans who started off as one of the children in The Happy Project. These talented artisans lack opportunities to study and work in respectable and safe environments due to poverty. For the past years, Phu Hieps aim is to help these children find a job free from violence, poverty and human trafficking, allowing them to live a better life. Please see: http://www.phu-hiep.com/ for more information.

La Residence in Hue

The local market

After settling in, Aya took us to a lovely restaurant near by our hotel and treated us to lunch. As we stepped into the restaurant, we were greeted by warm welcomes and a number of local Vietnamese dishes, such as: cha gio (pork spring rolls) and Tom Sot Chua Ngot (sweet and sour prawns). Even though I felt like a stuffed Christmas turkey after, the food was no doubt delicious!

The weather in Hue was very hot and humid, especially in the afternoon with temperatures 37C to 39C and humidity of over 90%. It is very common for people to take afternoon naps during their lunch break and resume working after 4 pm. Because of this, it wasn’t until 5pm that we had to meet with Aya again to visit the community, so my mom and I decided to explore Hue for a bit. We came across a local market where they sold food, Non la (palm leaf conical hat), clothing and other small goods. Later in the afternoon, Aya and her assistants brought us to the community in district number 49. We met 13 girls and 1 boy, all ranging from ages 8-22. Out of the 13 girls, three became staff members of Phu Hiep while the rest of the girls are still in The Happy Project. The Happy project is a 3-year program of Phu Hiep, created by 3 Japanese ladies where they provide a decent education system and life skill workshops for under privileged children. Through this project, these children will have a better chance to learn about basic life skills that can be applied in the outside world. They also try to provide a steady job for the children, hoping they will be able to support themselves and learn to be independent in the near future.

The children in the community and I play a game together.

When I walked in the community, the children greeted me with their over ecstatic energy and with the help of our translators (Mi and Mi), we were able to introduce ourselves briefly to them. As we started to get to know each other better, the language barrier suddenly disappeared. The girls and I were able to communicate and even play a game together! It was truly amazing to see how bright these girls are and it hurts me inside to see how unfortunate they are not to be given the same education I receive living in a developed country.

Besides all the fun we had, the girls had a session of life skill workshop. There they practiced making accessories with different kinds of materials on different kinds of accessories. Some girls were faster and were able to make 5 pieces in a few minutes while others took more time. I sat there in amazement, time passed by very quickly and soon we had to leave the community. As I was stepping out of the classroom, Mui and Tam, two of the girls tapped me on my elbow and handed me a present. It was a small piece of a green toy shaped like a peach. The present may not be known as anything “fancy” in our society, but I can imagine it meaning the world to them. The thought of kindness touched my heart and now the present is next to me, on my desk. This thoughtful gift is a constant reminder of them and the happiness they brought me during my visit in Hue. It will also be a reminder to me how fortunate I am to be able to go to school and receive a proper education.

Day 2

The next day, we headed down to Phu Hieps’ shop early in the morning. Once we arrived we saw No, Lung and Be, the three staff, making phu hieps’ accessories. Because these pieces were so beautiful, we couldn’t resist the temptation and ended up buying a few for our family and friends. After our mini shopping spree, we were able to talk to No, Lung and Be. I personally wanted to know more about them and their life stories, so we started asking questions and this is what I’ve gathered.

No, 22 and Lung, 18 are sisters. They’re living in a family of 8; they have a younger sister and 3 brothers. Their father is working as a driver and their mother is working part time at the market, when she is not working, she is a full time mother. Lung is currently 5 months pregnant and is expecting a baby girl. Her due date is in November. Lung said a man in the community brought No and Lung to Aya whom introduced the sisters to the Happy Project. With the help of Aya, Lung joined the project when she was 11 but her sister, No, joined when she was 20 after returning from Ho Chi Minh. Throughout our conversation, I couldn’t help but notice No was rather quiet, she didn’t say much, not like her sister Lung. Instead her eyes were watery and her hands were tightened into fists. It wasn’t until later Aya told us she was a victim herself, she worked in a factory in Sai Kung and had gone through a rather rough time before returning home in Hue. On the bright side, No is considered to be very lucky, to have been returned to her family in Hue. Many children (especially girls) who were sent away never came back and will most likely remain separated from their family forever.

No (the further one) and Be are making goods

Phu Hieps' accessories

Be, the third staff in Phu Hiep, now 20 years old living in a family of 7, with 3 brothers and one nephew. Her father is currently working in gold mines, often in the northern parts of Vietnam, meaning that she rarely sees him. As for her mother, she picks rubbish on the streets. Be joined the program when she was 12 and it was her first time being exposed to a proper education, or any education due to her family issues beforehand. We asked her what was the program like for her when she first joined, were there any difficulties and so on. She told us it was difficult at the beginning and she had trouble at the workshop, but after months and months of practice, she finally excelled. Now she loves it, and she really enjoys being part of the team at Phu Hiep.

There was one question I especially wanted to ask and it was dangling in my mind the whole time. What was the key to success in their program (since they were the only 3 girls who became staff out of 15 children who joined the first program 7 years ago)? It took them a while to think of an answer, but after a while of chitchat, they all agreed the most important quality was patience. Patience was their key to success. They believed if they had enough patience to learn throughout their journey, they would finally get somewhere. And as a result, they now work in a much better and safer environment with bigger opportunities awaiting them ahead.

Junko, Lung, Be, No, Mi , Mi, Aya and I at the Phu Hiep shop

During my trip to Hue, I’ve learnt so much that it is almost impossible to write it all down. One thing I realized was that all children deserve an equal opportunity to learn. These children I met are just as smart as everyone else if they are given a chance to learn, I believe they will have a very bright future. I wish them the best of luck and I hope, with the help of Clinked, we could offer them the support they need. Lastly, I would like to take this chance to thank Junko for taking the time to bring me to Hue and for giving me this great opportunity to be part of Clinked.

Myanmar Teacher Training and Leadership Development

When Caroline Seow suggested a human trafficking prevention workshop as a training course for Convent of Holy Infant Jesus (C.H.I.J) teachers in rural Myanmar, we saw a great fit with Clinked’s education program. C.H.I.J was founded in 1662 to educate the poor in France by recruiting educated women to be teachers. In Asia, Sister’s from France opened schools for girls in Malaysia, Singapore and Japan (Futaba) in mid 1800s.  In 2007 C.H.I.J started teacher training institute called Pyinya Sanyae (stream of wisdom) Institute of Education (PSIE) to train teachers serving vulnerable children in 12 locations in Myanmar. Sr. Grace, heading PSIE, felt an increasing need to incorporate human trafficking workshop for their teachers, as young people in rural communities, see migration as the only way out of poverty.

Clinked immediately knew that for these young teachers it would be a challenge, as many of the high risk youth and families do not want to acknowledge the danger when it comes to migration. So the workshop needed to cover not only knowledge on human trafficking, child protection and prevention but provide a sense of empowerment for the teachers. CLinked did this by incorporating leadership and organizing skills based on professor Marshall Ganz ‘s public narrative and community organizing. 

The program was designed to be experiential with many group sessions with facilitators, numerous briefing/debriefing sessions and performance/roll playing throughout.  The 21 teachers acted out many skits using improvisations and forum theater. Caroline made sure we had three excellent volunteer facilitators in addition to herself. Sr. Rosemary from Ireland, an expert in child protection, Jo Jo from Myanmar, a graduate of PSIE and an excellent teacher coordinator and Cornell graduate Lynn from Singapore,  a management consultant.

Lyn and I met up for the first time on the Jeststar flight  from Singapore to Yangoon on Sunday. When we arrived in Yangoon I was looking around for Caroline,  who arrived on an earlier flight. I found out that courageous Lyn volunteered through referrals and had never met Caroline or any of us before. We finally found Caroline and Jacinta, who is in charge of the institute during Sr. Grace’s trip.

We started the workshop review that afternoon at Jacinta’s home, located on a colorful street full of little stores and street vendors selling bananas and deep fried snacks and local delicacies. Myanmar is a country of 60 million people, 135 ethnic groups and 105 local languages. Myanmar is also very diverse.  We saw people with many shades of skin color and facial features sporting western, local and Islamic fashion in the street.

Sharing our  personal stories with the newly met facilitators during the public narrative coaching brought us closer. By the time we were sipping cold Burmese beer and sharing Burmese fried rice for dinner prepared by the teacher trainees.

March 17 Monday 2014

Our accommodation was at Humble Footprints, a brand new comfortable hostel https://www.facebook.com/humblefootprints, just minutes away from Jacinta’s apartment and not too far away from the Shwedagon Pagoda. 

(This is internet image, I did not have the time to visit the Pagoda and forgot to take the photo of the hostel)

After our coffee and meat pie (quite yummy) breakfast, Jo Jo came to pick us up at 9AM. Jo Jo was an amazing resource, as she was able to both facilitate, gage teachers learning level and translate difficult concepts during the workshop.  (photo of Caroline, Jo Jo, Lyn in front of PSIE)

(Street market near where we stayed)

Caroline, Lyn and I were welcome by Jacinta and 21 teachers from various parts of Myanmar. The classroom was spacious with projector system and audio. I was so glad that my neighbor lent me a VGA connector for projecting my  presentation the night before leaving Singapore because I found out MAC VGA was ALL sold out in Myanmar.

(Jacinta introducing us)

Teachers came from various parts of rural Myanmar where regions are divided based on ethnic groups.  In our workshop we had teachers from Kachin, Shan and southern states boarding Thailand, where trafficking is rampant.  Most of the teachers see human trafficking as a big problem in their community because of poverty and migration but felt they did not have enough knowledge to teach the children or provide prevention ideas.

Theater: A women sold into a bar has to serve clients without pay under the watchful eyes of the owner

Tuesday 18 March 2014

We started the day by reviewing yesterday’s learning. Before taking our workshop, teachers thought “Poverty” was the only reason for human trafficking. Now they have learned that geo-politics, economic growth, family, gender inequality and consumer demand all play a complex role. They also enjoyed the end of the day session on leadership. In the community organizing module they learned that leadership is about asking the right questions and using coaching skills rather than providing all of the answers.  One of the teacher, Josephine (photo: in front middle row) asked a question:

“How can we explain to people who want to work in another country, that human trafficking can happen to you too?’.  This was such an important question, that we asked people to write their answers on post-it's during the workshop.

We got so much response to Josephine’s question

Telling STORY of SELF in public narrative session

Today’s focus was on deepening community organizing skills by learning how to develop your own public narrative on why each participant  felt they where called to be a teacher, followed by learning how to build relationships and shared commitments. The class got divided in a group of 6 with each facilitator sharing their own 2 minutes of “story of self”.  The story has to convey our values, challenges and choices made in life. Each participants shared their 2 minute story about why they chose to be teachers for children from disadvantaged community.

Debrief of the relationship building module by each group

On relationship building module participants learned how to find common interests and develop shared commitment by exchanging each others resources. In Myanmar culture doing a one-on-one meeting for relationship building purpose is something new. After experiencing in the group work session, everyone saw the benefit.

Wednesday March 19 2014

The focus of the last day was developing a one year human trafficking action plan, that each teacher will take back to her community to implement. We started the day with a review of the human trafficking situation in Myanmar.  Officially over 300 people each year are recognized as trafficking victims but the number is just the tip of the iceberg. With huge porous border to Thailand and China, people get trafficked both internally and externally all over south east Asia. Domestic workers, fishing boats, seafood factory, forced marriage in China, street children in Malaysia, internal mining and sex workers. We learned that one of the teacher in another group is a survivor, who had been trafficked to Singapore.

By now everyone was asking “what can we do to prevent this horrible problem”.  We dove into the prevention part of the module, by stressing the importance of behavioral and attitudinal change of the entire community, including families, village leaders, potential exploiters, consumers and the victims. As so many young people feel “It’s not going to happen to me”. We discussed a case in an Indonesian rural village where they were able to reduce trafficking by implementing both non-migration incentives and safe migration village policies.

After the prevention, we went into “child protection” module which emphasized the importance of “safe place” for children and developing “resilience” in children.

Participants learned how to nurture resilience and create a safe place for their students to avoid them from being prime target for unsafe migration.  The session ended with a presentation on new efforts to engage PSIE communities to strengthen “child protection” in every boarding house.

In the afternoon the focus was on shared purpose, followed by each groups goal setting and finally the one year action plan for each teacher to implement. Shared purpose session facilitated by Lyn and Caroline was very successful.

As part of the goal setting exercise we build a team using names and fun chants. Some of the team names were “budding flowers," “warriors," and “Little Star."

Jojo who was very pleased with the final outcome. Creating an action plan was an “Aha” moment for everyone as they began to understand how community organizing skills are important for creating shared action for challenging problems.

The post workshop survey reflected a very different mindset towards human trafficking.

By the end of the course, teachers felt they gained knowledge and agency, to both protect themselves and their children.