Today started with sunrise at Angkor Wat. Definitely a special experience but not the highlight of my day. Far more amazing than the incredible millennium old ruins was the chance I had to visit a center for the education and training of girls and women rescued from the hellish sex trade here in Siem Reap.

The AFESIP Center in Siem Reap is a clean, modern facility in a quiet part of town where 53 girls and 14 staff
work hard to overcome the history laid down by their exposure to the horrifying trafficking that is part of the sex trade.

These women were in many cases kidnapped as children or “sold” when young into brothels. Their lives could not have changed more dramatically for the better when they were rescued and brought to the AFESIP center sponsored by the Somaly Mam Foundation.

Girls at the AFESIP Somaly Mam Center Learning Sewing

I was privileged to be delivering a box of books collected by friends and students from the San Francisco Bay Area who wanted to help with the cause. We received a tour of the center where the girls and women are educated in their studies including both Khmer and English—and soon to be taught how to use a computer—as well as a vocation of either weaving, sewing or hairdressing. Upon graduation the girls are helped to get a start in their career with a sewing machine and sewing basket.

Girls learn weaving and even hairdressing to help them
prepare for careers after their life at the center

I can’t begin to describe what some of the girls have been through before their rescue. It is too horrific to even dwell on. Somaly Mam’s book The Road of Lost Innocence is an eye-opening first person story of her experience of being sold into what is essentially slavery in the sex trade as a small girl in Cambodia.  She relates how after eventually escaping, she committed her life to helping others in a similar situation.

I was honored to bring the books collected by Castilleja School students and friends to Moniroth and
the AFESIP Center in Siem Reap, Cambodia

I can see why others are drawn to Somaly’s cause, people like Bill Livermore, who left this lucrative high-tech job to manage her foundation, and the 14 staff members at her Siem Reap center where 53 very fortunate girls and their six children are educated and trained to be able to succeed in the outside world.

It was impressive to see how many world leaders, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had visited the center
and demonstrated their support for Somaly’s Foundation.

If you want to help their efforts then her foundation is a great place to start. Personally I’m hoping I’ll have a chance to contribute further to their cause.