Good Shepherd Sisters attending the Talitha Kum Asia Conference in Bangkok, 2022
Casting the Net as Network in Asia to End Human Trafficking in Person. On August 24, the Talitha Kum Asia Conference in Bangkok. The Good Shepherd Sisters Sister Piyachat Boonmul and Sister Apinya Sorjan and Ms. Anna Neya, Neya Global Education, Philanthropy, and Consulting.
Please, enjoy the presentation of Sr Piyachat Boonmul on contribution the Good Shepherd Sisters Thailand made towards the prevention and suppression of prostitution.
"Hello, my name is Sr Piyachat and I am the representative of Good Shepherd Sisters Thailand. We are the biggest congregation in Thailand protecting women and children. We have projects operating in every province of Thailand.
A little bit of the background. You all know about the Pattaya and once it was a really small fishing village, but the changes happened in 1961 when American veterans started coming to Pattaya and creating the demand for prostitution. The poor and not educated women and widows started to migrate to Pattaya to work as prostitutes at the bars to support their families and pay for their children’s education.
When the Good Shepherd Sisters has realized the scale of the problem, they have sent the mission in 1988 to Pattaya. Our center became very popular, up until today we have many women receiving services at the Fountain of life women’s center pattaya. We believe that one of the key aspects is the approach ‘not to judge but to listen.’
When the Good Shepherd Sisters has realized the scale of the problem, they have sent the mission in 1988 to Pattaya. Our center became very popular, up until today we have many women receiving services at the Fountain of Life Women’s Center Pattaya. The Good Shepherd Sisters are accepting everyone who needs help with no regard to their background or religion. We believe that acceptance in unity and the atmosphere of friendship and support can heal their wounds.
Almost 6o years of work and the efforts of the Good Shepherd Thailand were acknowledged really high by the government authorities, and in 2020 , I was appointed as a qualified member of Development Committee on prevention and suppression of prostitution.
Our solution is an empowerment through education and vocational trainings which are the keys that lead to changes in wellbeing of women, giving them a chance for better life.
Despite many argue that the vocational training to secure the income is supposed to be the main focus of empowerment, we want to say that many women, survivors are not able to return back to society, study and live normal life. They need to go through the rehabilitation process , and this is our priority.
We started to use chat bot for counseling. Ms Anna Neya is in charge and helping us in technology implementation to enhance the effectiveness of the services provided and ensure mission development success.
In language learning classes Neya English Project, we implemented special program to empower them to speak with confidence. For the vocational training, apart from usual courses we are developing IT courses for women empowerment so they can have higher paid jobs in the IT sphere.
The police of pattaya is helping us a lot, protecting the target group, sisters and community. There is a high level of crimes in pattaya, and the area we work in, some sisters receive the threats.
Thanks to Mr.Adilake Chamnanjan, Pattaya Police Office and Police Superintenden for always being with us and protecting the women
We believe that cooperation, and knowledge exchange sessions , even it might look simple, yet it is one of the effective solutions. We are open to cooperation to the non profits who are protecting children and women around the world. We try to contribute towards the amendments of legislation and we are trying to protect the interest of our target group.
Recently, the foreign NPO tried to promote the legalization of prostitution in Thailand as a solution to the problem. As a Good Shepherd Thailand, we want to acknowledge that prostitution is a form of sexual exploitation and we will never support any of these kind of initiatives and we ask for your cooperation and attention to the spread of ideologies damaging the mission effectiveness.
We cooperate with the government authorities and the prosecution office, who recently visited our center with the big educational seminar on the Family law, child protection and human rights.
Our Special regards to Mr. Somjai Tosukonwan, Director General of Public Prosecution Region 2 and Mr.Sasin Sukjarat, Executive Director for Civil Rigbt Protection and Legal Aid Region 2, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and Pattya City Hall for your continuous help and support of women's and children's rights. Thank you!
By gathering together, listening to each other and only with the ears, but with the heart , we already contributing towards the SDG 17 Partnership for the Goals. I want to say again, together we can do more, if you have any questions, you can ask now or feel free to talk to us during the rest of the day. We would be very happy to learn more about your experience.
Special regards to Ms Anna Neya, Neya Global Education, Philanthropy and Consulting, for help throughoot the conference and organization of media materials.
Talitha Kum Asia Conference 2022 was a great opportunity to network with like minded people, share the best practices and learn from each other. Please enjoy more photos from the event.
During the conference, the participants were adviced to take part in various activities.
Tie dye activity. Using traditional way of colouring material with natural colors and pigment, together we have made many beautiful bags which could be purchased to support the cause.
Economic Sufficency and Empowerment of Women Activity. Sisters were sharing the history of the craft, the technique and the philosophy of traditional artcrafts.
