Blog post #8

Solmay Mam, the author of The Road of Lost Innocence, feels very strongly that the government of Cambodia and it's surrounding countries do an extremely poor job at preventing human trafficking. She believes they simply let it fly under the radar because trying to monitor would be impossible due to it's massive size and the powerful people intertwined in the system. They pay no attention to it, seeing the girls as human sacrifices. The government believes that to maintain peace and order in society, brothels must exist to satisfy the men. If they did not have this outlet, then there would be much chaos and unhappiness. The girls are deemed peasant trash, illiterate and uneducated, and therefore have no other place in society. They are caught in an endless cycle without access to education or vocational training.

I definitely side with Solmay. Although all the knowledge I have from such governments comes from this book in addition to the one I have just begun, Half of the Sky, there is overwhelming evidence supporting her case. The fact that so many of these brothels exist is all the proof. In Cambodia and other countries like it, there are thousands upon thousands of brothels full of kidnapped girls. The law never interferes with these brothels, and allow them to continue. The police are often their main customers, and for a small fee, protect the brothels. Past the police, government officials are equally involved. Rich, powerful men own the brothels and if they are questioned, they kill anybody with suspicions. The girls are stuck without any rescue. They have zero money and nowhere to go, and nobody provides them with any aid. When kidnapped girls are taken across borders, border patrols simply let them pass because it would be too difficult to monitor it, because too many girls come through. The governments have simply given up. When Solmay approached the police and government officials for assistance and protection, the majority of them flat out refused to help.

Blog Post #7

In the last portion of the book, the mood changes. The majority of the book is about all the hardships Solmay has encountered. Speaking for my self, during the duration of most of the book I found myself wanting nothing more than to personally help Solmay in any way she needed. In the last section, she gives you the opportunity to do just that. She explains how she founded Acting for Women in Distressing Situations, a charity to help get young women and girls out of brothels. At first, the charity does not go well. She does not have much funding, and has a hard time getting her story and the story of others like her out. When she is interviewed by journalists, they never site her organization, so it receives very little press. Finally, she is approached by an American journalists who gives her the publicity she needs. Funding remains considerably scarce, but increases nonetheless. She is able to purchase a small amount of land out side of Phem Phong and builds a house of it for girls who have been rescued from brothels. Her mother and sister work as caretakers for the girls. The house becomes full of girls quickly, and soon cannot fit everybody. As the center grows, so does word of her worth. Brothel owners and pimps hear about it, and threaten her life on multiple occasions. They stalk her, her husband, and her children. Solmay then wins the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in the presence of Queen Sofia of Spain. She wins a lot of prize money, and her cause becomes even more well known. With this money, she is able to buy property in her home town, and build another refugee center. At this center, the girls are able to go to school and learn how to sew so they can begin respectable careers. After she raids a brothel full of extremely powerful men, they kidnap her child in retaliation. Thankfully she recovers her daughter before she could be trafficked. Despite all of the obstacles she faces, she continues to run the organization, and to this day it is growing and expanding.

Although I have said it in previous posts, it is worth repeating; Solmay is an amazing woman. You would think after all she has encountered that she would run from Cambodia the second she could, but instead, she chooses to endanger her life for the aid of others. Every penny she gets she puts towards helping girls rescued from brothels. She does not turn down any girl, no matter how sick or damaged they may be. She has a huge, huge heart. Her well being is the least of her concerns. She has helped countless girls all over the world, and I'm saved an equal amount of lives. I wish there was somehting I could do to help, past just donating money. I looked into it and all of the hands on work is done on location in the various countries her rescue centers are. I wish there was an office in Boston or somewhere near by in which I could contribute.

Blog Entry #6

The next one hundred pages of my book were very different than the first 100. In the first 100, she is basically telling her story. She recounts memorable events in her life, and describes them very vividly. Around the 100 page mark, the protagonist and author Solmay meets Piere. Piere is a french man visiting Cambodia who rescues from the brothel. After she begins a relationship with him, she travels to Paris with him, where she earns a considerable amount of money working modest jobs like a hotel maid and waitress. They stay in Paris for a couple of years then return back to Cambodia with a sizable amount of money. From here, her career as an activist begins. Piere is a doctor, and Somlay becomes a nurse at his clinic. She first starts reaching out to oppressed girls in brothels by bringing them condoms and pamphlets on how to prevent STDs like AIDs. She then begins taking girls from the brothels who seem to be in dire condition and bringing them to the clinic for a couple of days to heal their various wounds and diseases, and give them hope that there is a way out of being a prostitute. Although for the most part she has no choice but to return the girls to their brothels, she begins to take a few into her own home. She realizes the need for a shelter and home for girls like this to escape to, and begins the Acting for Women in Distressing Situations foundation. She begins with very little money, and very little support. But, gradually, her foundation takes off. Her first course of action is staging raids on brothels and releasing all of the women there. This is a very difficult task but brothels are run and protected by many corrupt government officials, and policemen. After much toil, she finds a sympathetic policemen who helps her begin her raids. Herself, her husband, and a small band of police officers enter countless brothels and free the women there. But, she soon realizes they have no where to go and will probably end up being sold right back into prostitution. With various small donations, she is able to purchase a small piece of land that borders the Phem Phong. The construction of a relief center begins.

I am currently reading about the formation of her first relief center. All the work Solmay does is amazing. She is so incredibly brave. She is up against some of the most powerful, dangerous men in the country, but is not daunted nor concerned about her own health at all. She completely puts herself aside in attempt to help others. Even though she herself is not super rich, she gives all the money she possibly has to helping young girls she have never met before.