In 2012, Not For Sale plans to do significantly more to help re-abolish slavery and help create new futures for survivors receiving support, services, and care in its international projects across the globe.

In Thailand, Not For Sale supports the work of a street team of modern-day abolitionists to help provide emergency and long-term assistance to impoverished children and adults living near the Myanmar border.

Recently, the team was forced to take action and rescue a number of small children being abused by their father.

At the very young age of three, Me-Sa was her family’s biggest earner as tourists on the Thailand and Myanmar border could not resist giving money to the adorable little girl as she begged with her three older siblings.  Me-Sa’s parents, both methamphetamine addicts, used the money they earned to indulge their drug habits and rarely considered their children’s welfare until after they got their fix.

The Not For Sale Thailand street team became very familiar with the family and would often check on the children and their mother, offering them food and assistance. Me-Sa’s father quickly grew upset as he saw this outreach as a distraction from his family’s time begging.  He would often beat them when he wasn’t satisfied with their earnings.

After the abuse became too much for Me-Sa’s mother to bear and she brought her young children to the Not For Sale Thailand’s urban Drop-In Center where they were given shelter in a safe environment.

The following day, the family returned to the bridge to beg where they encountered Me-Sa’s angry father.  He threatened their lives and to prove he was very serious, he picked Me-Sa up and threw her into the river below.  The terrified little girl was instantly picked up by the current and was almost swept away before a border soldier jumped into the river and rescued her.

The family sought shelter at the nearby Drop-In Center after which Not For Sale Thailand staff took Me-Sa and her siblings to the Children’s Home where they were enrolled in public school, issued ID documentation and received the best care the staff could give.

Months after coming to live at the project, Me-Sa’s father arrived at the Children’s Home demanding his children be returned to him.  The police were called and, at first, the police didn’t see the severity of the problem.  “Just push them over to the Myanmar-side and let them figure it out themselves,” they said. “They don’t have any legal rights here.”

However, after explaining the situation further, the police agreed that the children’s best hope of a good future was to stay in school and receive regular meals each day.  The police then explained the situation to the children’s father and had him sign a legal document preventing him from having any contact with the children until they reached 18 years of age.  The police told Not For Sale Thailand that they had never before heard of a legal case that gave rights and protection to stateless children in the region.

Today, Me-Sa is in kindergarten and is happily living with her older brothers and sister and other children.  Her mother has since had another child and is still begging on the bridge.

Not For Sale wants to continue to help more children like Me-Sa in 2012 and beyond.

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