Somaly Mam grew up without parents in Cambodja. No one knew where they where. “When we went to sleep I saw the other children cuddle up close to their mothers. Me... I was by myself, freezing. I felt so alone.”
When she was twelwe she was sold the first time, to the local merchant to pay off a debt. When she was 15 she was sold again – to a brothel in Phnom Pehn. She tried to resist, but was beaten, raped and locked up every time she escaped.
In the end they broke her down.
But one day came a new girl to the brothel. She was only 10 and Somaly didn’t want that girl be destroyed as her, so she gave her all her money and helped her escape. As punishment she was beaten for several hours and locked in a narrow cage to show the other girls what happened to those who made resistance. After that, Somaly became one of the most obedient sex slaves in the brothel.
But when an American customer gave her $3,000 she bought free all ten girls on her brothel. After eight years Somaly was finally free and decided to save more girls from slavery. Now it has been eleven years and over 3000 girls have gained a better life thanks to Somaly. She and her organization AFESIP has built three safe homes where the girls get food, healthcare, a chance to go to school and safety, warmth and love.
But it has been a long and dangerous struggle. She lives under constant death threat and in 2006 her own 14 year old daughter Champa was kidnapped. She was drugged, raped and sold to a brothel on the border to Thailand. After four days she was found. Then Somaly was close to giving up. But Champa made her continue. “No, mom, I do have you and will be allright. But what will happen to all the other girls if you stop?”
Somaly Mam is one of our times biggest heroes. She was recently in Stockholm to receive the World’s Children Prize (www.childrensworld.org). Bless her!
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somaly needs to be in my life. right now. she needs to be my hand-in-hand mentor. i want her courage. her brave face. her two feet. and her heart next to mine.
2 comments:
this has zero relevance to this particular post. but that website is http://www.wefeelfine.org/ it's very cool. check it out. muah!
I love you for posting this. I love the courage that some people have and their ability and willingness to make changes and help others. This woman is incredible and she needs to be honored every day.
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