ADAPT

At risk of being trafficked: Can you define these risks?

Since ADAPT is one of the few anti-human trafficking organizations that are currently operating at the border districts, we are often asked to define the trafficking risks. So who is at risk? From ADAPT's perspective and experience, girls who feel that they do not have any economic opportunity to find a stable job to support themselves and their families are vulnerable to being trafficked. This risk factor is intensified when these girls do not receive much attention from their family and have low level of educational attainment, or worse, when they are made to bear the responsibilities for the family's financial burdens.

Each and every ADAPT staff and volunteer has seen the risks firsthand. We work fast and hard because we know the consequences if our human-trafficking prevention activities are not implemented quickly enough. In these villages bordering Cambodia, one scholarship or vocational training enrollment not only make a difference in the recipient's future but also help in preventing her from disappearing into the unknown.

Below are some examples of the various risk profiles that ADAPT has encountered. They are also examples of what we do beyond our original scope of services; the additional assistance offered is often supported by the staff members themselves.

The story of Nguyen Thi D.

Upon entering high school in 10th grade, D told us tearfully that without her ADAPT scholarship she would be forced to drop out of school because she "simply could not afford it."

She said that she would then have to find work in Ho Chi Minh City as her older sister had done. Since her sister left home, since a few years ago, the family had not received any communication from her and currently did not know her whereabouts. Despite being fully aware of this, D.’s only option would be to venture out to the city and make her own way just like her sister.

Can you imagine the risk in this situation? The fact that this young girl is willing to share her sister's uncertain fate demonstrates the incredibly risky choices that these girls face. D. is in trường bán công (semi-public school) because her grades are not high enough for regular public school. This means that extra money is needed for her to attend school since the tuition cost of a semi-public school is generally more than double the tuition of a public school As such, in addition to our scholarship, more money must be raised to support D. Given the extremely high risk D. faces in getting caught in the dangerous trafficking underground if she drops out of school, the ADAPT staff decided to do our best to continue supporting D, even when her tuition fees are higher than average. This year, we are pleased to announce that D has entered 11th grade, one more year closer to graduating high school.

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The story of T

August 2006

We came across T, a talkative fifth grader, while she was selling lottery tickets at a ferry dock on the Mekong River to pay for her school fees. Her father passed away leaving her mother to raise ten children, five of whom have left home without a trace.

T has an attractive 19 year-old sister with a fatherless 1-month old child, and another sister who dropped out of 8th grade, but just returned to school due to ADAPT's encouragement.

T's risk of falling victim to illicit trade is so real, you can almost taste it.

However, T and her sisters are not in our scholarship program this year because ADAPT does not have the funding to cover additional recipients in new schools.

So T continues to battle against the risk of being trafficked, a risk that has already consumed her surroundings and many people she knows. This risk is compounded by the fact that she sells lottery tickets on a busy ferry dock. Futhermore, we have reason to think that her mother, normally an at-risk child’s first line of defense, does not provide her with much needed monitoring since many of T’s siblings have already disappeared. We bring these cases to the general public's attention and ask for your support.

Ferry in the Mekong Delta: The Mekong Delta, with its many branches, is filled with ferry docks to help people and cars cross the river. T, a 10-year old girl, continues to sell lottery tickets to strangers that pass by. Her working environment combined with close proximity to the Viet Nam-Cambodian border, the lack of family concern, perpetual poverty, and the likelihood of dropping out of school all contribute to put this young and exceptionally beautiful child at risk of falling prey to the human trafficking trade.

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Scholarship Cases - The dutiful daughters

*Names have been changed to respect the privacy of scholarship recipients

To Ho Chi Minh City and back: Phuong’s story
Written date: December 2007

For many in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam , where resources are scarce, making it to high school is a big deal; it requires a lot of hard work and study, including rigorous testing. Finishing high school is an even greater accomplishment because it means access to more stable employment. So for Phuong who managed to successfully complete the 9th grade and move on to the 10th grade, entering high school and the stage of secondary education, suddenly dropping out of school altogether was disheartening news.

Instead of sitting in a classroom with friends on the first day of high school, Phuong was sitting in a factory feverishly working with a sewing machine. 15 year old Phuong had traveled by herself to Ho Chi Minh City, a sourthern city in Vietnam, to find employment so that she could send any money she could back home to her family. Phuong’s father is a daily wage laborer, hiring himself out to whatever odd jobs and services people may need help with. Stricken with poor health and perpetual ailments, Phuong’s father continues to work, mostly doing hard, manual labor despite the toll it has taken on his deteriorating health, in order to earn money to feed the family. Phuong’s mother stays at home tending two young sons, weaving baskets and making other crafts when she has spare time to try to earn additional income. In a good day, she can make four baskets, earning a total of 6,000VND or approximately 30 cents USD. As the oldest daughter of three kids, Phuong could not bear to see her family in such dire circumstances and feeling guilty about being in school, despite the ADAPT scholarship, took it upon herself to drop out and seek out means to help her family financially.

After spending three months in Ho Chi Minh City, Phuong thankfully returned home safe and sound after the work hours turned out to be too long and overwhelming for her and homesickness sank in. The ADAPT staff visited her and managed to convince her to go back to school. However, the pull of her family’s economic situation was too strong and just weeks later, Phuong dropped out again. Upon hearing the news, ADAPT staff and Phuong’s school teacher immediately set out to Phuong’s home to get a better grasp of the situation and hopefully to stop her from disappearing by herself again into unknown and risky paths. After visiting the home and talking with the mother, ADAPT staff finally tracked Phuong down to a local restaurant where she is currently employed earning at most 500,000VND/month ($30USD) serving beer to male patrons.

ADAPT staff members and Phuong’s teacher implored her to think about her future and to try her best to stick it out with school for just a couple more years so that she could earn a high school degree and thus be in a better position to her help family later on. As a 15 year old, traveling by oneself to a big city for employment without knowing a soul or working in a liquor establishment frequented mainly by older men, are not safe nor should they be viable options. Phuong’s parents want their daughter to be in school but ultimately leave the decision up to her. Phuong stated that she desperately wanted to go to school but couldn’t sit idly by while her family struggled so hard to make ends meet.

In the end, Phuong courageously made the decision to return to school. However, her challenges are far from over. Since being absent from school for so long and thus far behind her peers, she must repeat the 10th grade twice. Can you imagine how discouraging and hard this is for Phuong and her family? But Phuong is determined to complete high school.

In the meantime, Phuong and her family need support. Without adequate help, that includes assisting her family’s economic situation, Phuong continues to be at risk of dropping out of school and falling prey to a number of dangerous and tragic outcomes, including that of being trafficked both within Vietnam and abroad.

The going to school dream

To Ha Tien and back: Xuan’s story

Written date : December 2007

In the summer of 2007, the ADAPT staff was making its usual scheduled household visits. The goal of the household visits is to follow the scholarships girls’ academic progress, assess her dropout risks, and also use the opportunity to discuss human trafficking risks. When the ADAPT team got to Cai Dau district, in southern Vietnam, we were immediately informed on several drop-out cases. One of the cases in particular raised a high level of alert due to the risky situation the girl was in.

Generally speaking, not all drop-out cases put these girls directly at risk. However, Xuan’s case follows a general profile of at-risk girls. Xuan just finished 6th grade. In the summer month, she decided to go to Ha Tien to work for a distant uncle. The main reason that pushed a 13 year old girl into finding work was that no one else in her family could make any money. Xuan is an orphan who lived with her grandmother and a younger sister. The burden of bringing food onto the table fell on her shoulder. Her family lived by the river where a small ferry crossed daily. Her family survived by selling food by this ferry dock. However, the ferry dock moved further down the river; and the family lost their only source of income.

During the idle summer months, Xuan could no longer bear to see her grandmother go around borrowing rice and food. She decided to drop out of school to find work. She went to Ha Tien to work in a coconut refinery company. She earned about $40 a month, the majority of which she sent home to her family.

Upon hearing this news, ADAPT staff make an urgent stop by her house. After several years doing anti-human trafficking work, ADAPT can quickly identify the risk factors. Ha Tien is a hot bed of human trafficking activities since it is located right on the Vietnam – Cambodia border. We have first-hand knowledge of cases where the girls were trafficked from this location. Secondly, Xuan is in the care of distant relatives, away from her nuclear family which are the people who are able to provide the best safety net. In addition, Xuan’s 6th grade level of education would not help to distinguish between real job offers and trickery. Xuan is also in desperate need of money, which makes her more vulnerable. All of these factors combined make Xuan an easy prey to the human trafficking trade both within Vietnam and across the borders.

ADAPT approached the Xuan’s grandmother and explained to her the trafficking risk. We advised the grandmother that Xuan has the best chance at a stable and healthy future if she were to return home and go back to school. ADAPT currently does not has the funding to cover any costs outside of the program. One ADAPT staff member offered her to help with the bus money for Xuan to return home from her own salary. The grandmother decided to call Xuan and ask her to return home. However, the distant uncle refused to let her go, since he would lose a worker. The grandmother then asked another relative to drive to Ha Tien and personally pick Xuan up.

The ADAPT team stopped by to visit Xuan last week. She has returned to school and has stayed in school for the past 3 months. We finally got to meet her in person. Xuan has a round, cheerful face and the happy energy of a teenager. She is going to school regularly, even on Saturdays and Sundays for tutoring classes. Her uncle has been sending home around 300.000Dong ($19) per month to support the family.

The ADAPT staff has provided the family with 100kg of rice paid for out of their own pockets. We hope to structure additional assistance to this family in a more systematic and sustainable way. As such, we are asking for donations and monetary support to: (a) provide the family with some micro credit so that the grandmother can earn a living and (b) to be able to provide immediate assistance to Xuan’s family and similar families that face emergency situations such as this one. In the end, we believe direct assistance to the most at-risk profiles is one of the most effective ways to prevent human trafficking.