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start summer select a project Somaly Mam Foundation and AFESIP

Business, technology, and education projects with two Cambodian NGOs that tackle human trafficking: Somaly Mam Foundation and AFESIP

www.somaly.org
ww.afesip.org

The following project ideas have been submitted by MIT students Chen-rei (Cherry) Wan and Tiffany Guo, who developed the ideas in collaboration with the Somaly Mam Foundation and AFESIP. Any MIT students interested in tackling these projects should contact Cherry and Tiffany:

Cherry, cwan@mit.edu, 412.726.3962
Tiffany, tiffguo@mit.edu, 440.667.8398

Students seeking funding to work on these projects through the Public Service Fellows program must submit an application to the program by March 30th at 9:00am.

1. Scarf project

The aim of the project is to plan and implement a social enterprise of weaved silk/cotton scarves to empower women who are survivors from sex slavery and human trafficking in Cambodia. Not only will the social enterprise give these girls tools to earn an independent and respectful living, but it will also be the first product to kick off large-scale US awareness campaign on human trafficking led by Somaly Mam Foundation (SMF). SMF aims to eradicate human trafficking and empower women who are survivors of sex slavery. SMF is headquartered in the U.S with its operation in Cambodia. They house more than 150 girls, age 6 – 20, in three shelters. Girls over 18 stay in the shelters for 1-2 years while they undergo vocational training, such as sewing, weaving, or hair-dressing. After they graduate from the shelters, they will start their own business as a seamstress or a hairdresser.

The aim of the project is to plan and implement a social enterprise of weaved silk/cotton scarves to empower women who are survivors from sex slavery and human trafficking in Cambodia. Not only will the social enterprise give these girls tools to earn an independent and respectful living, but it will also be the first product to kick off large-scale US awareness campaign on human trafficking led by Somaly Mam Foundation (SMF). SMF aims to eradicate human trafficking and empower women who are survivors of sex slavery. SMF is headquartered in the U.S with its operation in Cambodia. They house more than 150 girls, age 6 – 20, in three shelters. Girls over 18 stay in the shelters for 1-2 years while they undergo vocational training, such as sewing, weaving, or hair-dressing. After they graduate from the shelters, they will start their own business as a seamstress or a hairdresser.

Alternatively, in this scarf campaign, we would like to employ these women to weave scarves to be sold in the US. All the profit will flow back to the shelters and/or the girls.

The scarf project was initiated by the Somaly Mam Foundation. They are looking for capable students who can take this project from an idea to reality. Various funding sources, including Marie-Clare, have committed promotional assistance and monetary support once the project is established. $30,000 has been donated to purchase the initial capital. However, many unknowns remained to be answered. Here is a list of questions to be addressed,

  1. How to market these scarves most effectively in the US? Market segmentation? Target demographics? Price points?
  2. What will be the design and style for the scarves?
  3. What are the costs associated with bringing the scarves to the US? (customs, shipping, inventory…..) SMF workers in Cambodia will assist with the cost analysis of the actual apparel.
  4. What will the cash flow be like?

While the task might seem overwhelming in the first glance, it has the potential to turn into a real national/global movement on anti-human trafficking. You will also have the opportunity to work with various people from the board members of SMF to sex slavery survivors. Depending on how far the project progresses, there will be opportunities to implement the project in Cambodia.

The project will start immediately. The students will be in charge of communicating with SMF and various funders to determine the specific time line.

Qualifications and Assets

No language requirement. Some business skills/experience are highly desired. We are looking for up to 3 students to work on this project.

2. Technology project

AFESIP is an organization that shelters and rehabilitates women who have been rescued from the sex trafficking industry in Cambodia. The technology project assesses two potential improvements to the shelters suggested by AFESIP staff: Internet access and solar panels. Women in the shelter get informal training in reading, writing, and mathematics. There are a few computers at the shelters already, and Internet access would supplement their informal education. Furthermore, Internet access would facilitate communication between offices so they do not have to rely on the much slower postal service. Solar panels could significantly decrease the amount of money that the shelter spends on electricity.

Currently, prices that have been quoted for both Internet and solar panels are extremely high. The person working on this project would:

  1. Assess the cost effectiveness of each of these improvements, or identify lower-cost alternatives
  2. Create an implementation plan for these improvements if deemed cost effective and appropriate for the shelters needs

The project will start immediately. The students will be in charge of communicating with AFESIP employees to determine the specific time line.

Qualifications and Assets

No language requirement. Some accounting or teaching skills are highly desired. We are looking for one student to work on this project.

3. Education project

AFESIP is an organization that shelters and rehabilitates women who have been rescued from the sex trafficking industry in Cambodia. Once at the shelters, women are given skills training in either hair-dressing, sewing, or weaving. At the shelters, women also recieve informal education such as basic reading and writing in Khmer (the official language of Cambodia) as well as basic mathematics. After 1-2 years of training and mental rehabilitation, women will leave the shelter either to start their own business or find employment with the skills that they have acquired. Many women would benefit from a course in basic accounting and business skills: how to save, how to keep inventory, what is interest, etc., and this type of training would significantly improve the chances for their success after leaving the shelter.

We have made contact with a women’s dormitory in Phnom Penh, and the women would be willing to collaborate to help implement the project. The specific way in which to collaborate with the women's dormitory is up to the person(s) implementing the project, but the student community contact could be useful for translating the course and understanding the Khmer culture. However, these university students are extremely busy, and this should be kept in mind when planning the collaboration.

We hope the course will be a relevant and ongoing project at the AFESIP shelters. We would like the curriculum to be engaging and allow the women to practice the skills that they would use after leaving the shelter. Also, because of the high turn over rate in the shelters, the course should be an ongoing. The person(s) working on the project could potentially go to the shelters over the summer to set up and implement the beginning parts of the project, and have a plan to make sure that the course and curriculum is sustainable without constant U.S. student presence. The model for this course has the potential to be expanded to other relevant subjects such as computer skills.

The person(s) working on this project will need to:

  1. create a relevant and engaging curriculum
  2. communicate with both AFESIP and the women’s dormitory to make sure the curriculum is feasible and culturally relevant/appropriate
  3. create an implementation plan for an ongoing course

The project will start immediately. The students will be in charge with communicating with AFESIP employees to determine the specific time line.

Qualifications and Assets

No language requirement. Some accounting or teaching skills are highly desired. We are looking for up to 3 students to work on this project.