Linked with our presentation of Sompop Jantraka – Thailand.
Project: Development and Education Program for Daughters & Community Center DEPDC.
Location: Mae Sai,Thailand and Mekong sub-region (including Laos, Burma and the Yunnan Province of China). Across Asia, tens of thousands of children are being sold into prostitution or hard labor.
Sompop Jantraka has put his life on the line to save young women sold into prostitution by poor farming families. He is also proving that these women can be far more valuable to Thailand as educated members of the work force than as sex slaves.
Jantraka offers the poor families of young women between the ages of 8 and 18 (who are often desperate for income and easily deceived by brothel owners) an alternative to sending their daughters into prostitution by providing the girls with education, job training and employment assistance. Eight different projects focus on children at risk, children’s rights, child sexual abuse and forced labor.
Since 1989 when he founded the Daughters Education Program, Jantraka’s work has directly affected more than 1,000 children. Starting with an initial group of 19 students, the program is now supporting more than 360 girls and boys.
Jantraka considers education and training the keys to allow these girls to find alternative employment, improve their communities and reach their full potential.