Tim, our guy in Asia, is helping with a much needed outreach in Thailand. Working with several other ministries, the government agency for child protection and a church, children were taught about sexual abuse and exploitation thereby, hopefully, preventing it.
It was handled in the form of a special Children’s Day in Bangkok with 160 children from different projects and from a slum community. This coincided with a yearly event in Thailand of a special day to celebrate children. Our contribution was to provide the elements necessary to focus on training children on how to protect themselves and their friends from sexual abuse.
One of the children in attendance, an 11 year old girl, writes:
"…any type of abuse to children is bad but sexual abuse is not just physical and mental it is emotional too and scars for life. I know because I have been sexually abused. This is the first time I have met adults who really care for me and I am happier. Thank you"
(Girl aged 11 from a Bangkok Slum Community. This child has since been identified and assistance will be offered.)
Most of the children in the audience had little knowledge of any of the topics covered, coming from very poor communities where the threat of exploitation and abuse are constantly present. The children are informed of:
3 things about me: God loves me and I am special. I am worthy to be touched properly. My body is my own.
3 ways to protect myself: Say “No”: Run away from the situation: Tell a trusted adult.
5 ways to protect my friends: Listen to them. Trust them. Let them know I care. Don’t tell them off. Ask my friend to let me tell a trusted adult who will keep everything confidential.
In addition to singing and dancing, the children are taught body mapping – where the outline of a child is drawn, before being coloured in as they wish. Simple questions related to identifying where on their body touch is; OK; not OK and touch which makes them uncomfortable. This then leads to discussions about their individual rights and preventing possible exploitation. The programme targets children aged between 9 - 11 years but can be adapted for varying ages.
Given the success of this event, the government agency is making tentative plans not only make this an annual event, but also build it into a form of ‘road show’ – taking the message to the children who really need to hear the message but are unable to travel into major population centers.
This is a perfect example of how working together, with other agencies and the local church, we can maximize our efforts and our dollars to reach out to children in need.
