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Our Mission and Purpose
To empower ex-street children and those at risk of trafficking offering them hope and a different, better, future. To change societal attitudes to street children.
OUR WORK
We partner with the organization Surfers Not Street Children who have been working on the rights of street children in South Africa and Mozambique for over 25 years. Our outreach program combines surfing lessons with mentorship, working to reshape the future of the most at-risk children. We empower ex-street children and children at risk of street connectedness (when children rely on street for their livelihood) through surfing and mentorship. The SNSC drop ins are safe spaces where children will learn important life skills. Through advocacy, we aim to change the societal view and treatment of street children.
Girls Surf Too launched in 2019 to address the particularly vulnerable girls living on the streets. And, we launched our English language program in 2019; the youth in Mozambique requested we teach English as it enables them to be more meaningfully engaged in the tourism industry.
Our Impact In Numbers
In 2019, through Not For Sale South Africa & Mozambique..
OUR CHALLENGES
In urban centers, child traffickers will force boys, refugees, orphans and children with disabilities to beg on the streets. Girls are most commonly trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation or domestic work. Sex trafficking victims are at risk of forced drug use as a means of control.
Mozambique’s poor, rural population are at high risk – children and young adults in particular are often trafficked to South Africa for forced labor in agriculture, street vending and commercial sexual exploitation. In farms and mines, men and boys from Mozambique will work without pay for months before traffickers turn victims to South African police for deportation as illegal migrants to avoid paying them, and the cycle begins again.
Today’s guest post was written by Dan Hartley, a member of the ALLSAINTS team. ALLSAINTS is Not For Sale’s longest-running corporate sponsor. Dan recently travelled to Thailand to experience the impact of Not For Sale and ALLSAINTS’ partnership through Not For Sale Thailand’s annual #Free2Play activities.
I knew the story of Dave and Not For Sale. I’d read Dave’s book and had been in awe of Kru Nam and the team in Thailand from 5,500 miles away at AllSaints Studios in East London. But having been here for just over three days, experiencing it, meeting the people behind the names and pictures, I leave Chiang Rai with a new perspective entirely. As I write this, I’m sitting in the departures lounge of Chiang Rai International Airport.
I’d taken the opportunity to visit Japan a week ago, before catching a flight to Thailand to visit the children’s village and the NFS Thailand project. As I packed my suitcase this morning I thought of packing up to leave Tokyo. Tokyo was one of my favorite trips ever, I was on a high, overwhelmed by everyone’s kindness in Japan, the food, the shopping. But it didn’t stay my favorite trip for long.
When I arrived in our hotel in Thailand, on the banks of the Mekong River, the sun was just about to set. I’d never seen a sunset like it. I didn’t realize at the time that it would go on to represent the end of a particular view of the world, in preparation for a new one.
I got to meet the legend that is Kru Nam. She was strong, kind, selfless, everything I thought she would be. She had some food with us at the hotel as we planned out the next days’ activity. We would start at the beginning, a trip to a drop in center around 45 minutes away. There we would meet Shaphiel (a former street kid, turned hero, now fighting for and caring for the next generation of kids in danger. You find this selflessness a lot here.) and Oot, a university graduate, who interned and decided this is what he wants to do full time (you see what I mean about selfless?).
The Not For Sale Thailand Team took us in to Myanmar (Burma). There I participated in what was, I’m sure, a much safer (but still intense) trip through some of the areas they work within each day. I met many inspiring people who were examples of the NFS x Krunam model working.
A Grandma – unable to cope following the drug-related death of her daughter and son-in-law (you hear this a lot too), had five grandchildren to take care of. NFS saw these kids as high risk, and took four of them into the village. The grandma hadn’t seen the kids in a year and a half, but you could tell she was happy they were doing well (there is that S word again – Selfless). It turns out one grandkid is in boarding school already, and looking to follow in the footsteps of three other NFS Thailand university graduates!
The day was an eye-opening look into what is happening on the ground every day at Not For Sale Thailand. It’s people like Shaphiel and Oot that have one of the toughest jobs, trying to educate the young kids they meet about the dangers of drugs and the right paths to follow, whilst staying aware and poised to be able to pull out any kids they see as high risk.
Day two, still reeling from the sensory overload of Myanmar, Shaphiel and Oot, I looked forward to visiting the NFS village. I would finally meet the 50 or so kids that we had talked about on allsaints.com so often. As we took a sharp right off the main road down a dirt track, I felt a little nervous. I now realized I wasn’t really sure what to expect.
We approached the house, and little curious heads started popping up over walls and porches. When Dave wound down the window and yelled “sah wah dee khap”, they knew exactly who it was. “Phee Dave!” (“Uncle Dave!”) was yelled back, and more kids began popping up from everywhere. I don’t think I have ever seen so many smiles (a new S word for day two) in one place. Ranging in age from around 4 to 13 years old, the kids here have been rescued out of danger and brought to the village to be safe, educated, loved, and able to live a life free from exploitation.
Little cheeky guys began to point out my tattoos, and point to their muscles. Girls went shy, other kids simply beamed when you smiled at them. After lots, and I mean lots, of dancing and running around, the whole group performed a ceremony to show their appreciation to us and NFS. It was obvious they knew exactly who NFS was, and they all delicately poured perfumed water and petals onto our hands and giggled with excitement when you splashed them with it. Groups of girls then went around and delicately placed some of the remaining petals in their hair (cute, right?).
Day three couldn’t come quickly enough, these little superstars had put the biggest smile on my face. We arrived at the village just in time for dancing and more games. The hugs were more frequent now, as was the sound of “Phee Dan,” followed by outstretched arms into the air (this seems to be sign for, “hey, pick me up and shake me around until I giggle”). Of course I obliged every time.
In my entire visit, I didn’t see one tear, one tantrum, or one kid looking alone. Older and younger kids looked out for one another, helped with washing the dishes after eating, and brought us green tea and bottles of water when we looked extra hot from the dancing. You could also see that the games Kru Nam and the team introduced built confidence and inclusivity, whether it was a dance-off (with some pretty good moves from the oldest and the youngest amongst the kids), singing, or other group games. Later we had a tie-dye lesson, and the remainder of the day was filled with blue hands, green hands, and green soles of feet.
There was also a birthday cake for Dave to celebrate 10 years commitment from Not For Sale to the Thailand project. Before we had to leave (a solid 12 hours after we got to the village in the morning), some of the kids gave us hand-drawn cards and pictures saying they loved us and would miss us.
A few of the kids were asked to volunteer and say a few words (there’s that confidence building again). The common theme was, “we love you,” “we miss you,” “thank you for making everyone smile,” “please don’t forget about us.” How can you not get tears in your eyes hearing that (answer: impossible!)?
Heartfelt thank you notes, more hugs now than I’ve ever had, and a tiger’s eye ring engraved with the word ‘NAM’ from Kru Nam, and it was time to go. It turns out my blue eyes were a talking point, and were being compared to a tiger.
As I’ve said my goodbyes, it’s now possible to reflect on just what a huge impact this project is having. It’s not about short-term kudos, or a sound byte that you can get a headline with. It’s a slow burner, requiring years of patience, but the model is working. It is having a life-transforming impact on children right now, and I’ve met them – the past generations of people like Shaphiel and Gallow, the future generations of tiny little cheeky kids with beaming smiles and bright eyes, looking forward to the freedom to make their own futures.
I’ll conclude with an excerpt from an email I got from Dave a couple of hours after leaving Chiang Rai (the past 1,302 words could have been summed up in the next 25)
‘Nothing gives life such bright colors and deep meaning than a long-term dedication to a cause bigger than oneself’
Looks like I’ve found mine.
For more updates and stories on Not For Sale’s impact around the world, sign up for our upcoming newsletters.
This post is the first in a series of three, as we introduce you to the three top finalists from June’s Entrepreneurship Challenge with Not For Sale and brand partner Spence Diamonds. Profiles for our third place winner, Esther, and second place winner, Benard, are also available on the Not For Sale blog.
Our first place winner for this month’s entrepreneurship challenge with Spence Diamonds is Simon Marot Touloung! Simon’s brand-new sandal making business is only 4 months old, but shows great promise.
Originally from South Sudan, Simon came to Uganda in 2000 when he was just 8 years old. Simon moved around from one refugee settlement to another during his childhood and teenage years. While living in Rhino refugee settlement, Simon received a scholarship to attend university. After graduating, Simon eventually moved to Kiryandongo refugee settlement and joined together with 5 other refugee youth to found a peace building initiative called the African Youth Action Network (AYAN) in 2015. To date, Simon’s initiative has trained 162 refugee and host community youth in peacekeeping,, leadership and video editing.
The youth that Simon mentored through AYAN often complained that they didn’t have anything to do, or any way to support themselves. Simon decided that a shoe-making enterprise could be a good solution.
Using recycled tires and a borrowed sewing machine, Simon learned how to make stylish sandals from discarded materials.
In the past few months, Simon has trained and hired his first two youth sandal-makers, Willy and Pouk, with hopes to quickly expand and hire more youth! He hopes to set up a workshop that can train many youth in skills that they can someday take back to their countries of origin to open new businesses.
In addition to use funds to support his workers, Simon uses profit from sandal sales to continue funding AYAN. The funds that Simon received through the entrepreneurship challenge will be used to set up his training workshop and hire new employees.
If you’d like to learn more about the “why” behind the Entrepreneurship Challenge, you may read an introduction to the project, as well as our project wrap-up and initial impact report here on the Not For Sale blog. For regular updated on our impact-focused projects aand programs around the world, be sure that you’re signed up for our upcoming newsletters!
This post is the second in a series of three, as we introduce you to the three top finalists from June’s Entrepreneurship Challenge with Not For Sale and brand partner Spence Diamonds. Profiles for our first place winner, Simon, and third place winner, Esther, are also available on the Not For Sale blog.
The second place winner in our #NFSInvestsUganda Entrepreneurship Challenge is Benard Ocaya! Benard entered the challenge to present an innovative business idea for a community-based piggery. Piglets are given to members of the community at no cost to care for and raise. When the animals are sold, they share in the profit! The overall vision for the business is to help vulnerable youth, widows, and families become self-reliant through training them in entrepreneurship skills and giving them an opportunity to support themselves.
Our Entrepreneurship Challenge judges and mentors were struck by the potential scalability and impact of this piggery. With its well-planned business model, hundreds of community members will benefit not only from the income their participation will ensure, but increased nutrition and access to education as well. Benard hopes that the business will also effectively fight illiteracy by giving families the resources to purchase the school materials their children need.
Orphaned as a child, Benard has overcome many difficult circumstances to become the successful young businessman he is today. His own story fuels his passion to support orphans within the Kyangwali Refugee settlement and neighboring areas where the piggery business is based and currently employing 54 people- 45 community members and 9 staff. The funding received through the Entrepreneurship Challenge will be used to grow and strengthen the business and employ more community members.
If you’d like to learn more about the “why” behind the Entrepreneurship Challenge, you may read an introduction to the project, as well as our project wrap-up and initial impact report here on the Not For Sale blog. For regular updated on our impact-focused projects aand programs around the world, be sure that you’re signed up for our upcoming newsletters!
This post is the first in a series of three, as we introduce you to the three top finalists from June’s Entrepreneurship Challenge with Not For Sale and brand partner Spence Diamonds. Profiles for our first place winner, Simon, and second place winner, Benard, are also available on the Not For Sale blog.
23 year old Rwandan Esther Mambolewo is our 3rd place runner up. A talented designer, She launched a fashion company to design & produce apparel out of Nakivale refugee camp. When we met Esther, she told us how she sells half of her food ration aid so she can buy six yards of cloth. With that cloth she can make two clothing items.
Through hard work and sacrifice, she’s gained enough customers that she now employs seven young vulnerable women. With our investment funding of 4.5 Million Ugandan shillings, she plans to expand her business and employ more women.
If you’d like to learn more about the “why” behind the Entrepreneurship Challenge, you may read an introduction to the project, as well as our project wrap-up and initial impact report here on the Not For Sale blog. For regular updated on our impact-focused projects aand programs around the world, be sure that you’re signed up for our upcoming newsletters!