School and Tuk Tuk Lunches
“He is trying not to be sad, but he has been waiting to go to school for one year. He sees all his other friends from his slum neighbourhood with their uniforms and homework. He really wants to learn. He asks me every time he sees me if we found him a sponsor yet. Every week, whenever we hold prayer meetings in his neighbourhood, his prayer request is that he can get an education sponsor. We’ve been praying with him all year as well! We keep telling him to not be discouraged, but to keep praying because God will provide someone to help him go to school.”
While in Phnom Penh Cambodia, Barefoot Love was invited to join XP Missions’ Education Empowerment Program.
XP Missions works in Southeast Asia to see the elimination of human trafficking through facilitating partnerships and working in the areas of prevention, rescue, and aftercare to assist Cambodian children and children who are victims of trafficking in Thailand and Cambodia. Through your purchases and support, Barefoot Love was able to sponsor XP Missions’ Education Empowerment Program. EEP provides private school fees, school supplies, uniform and shoes, gym clothes, school transportation, hygiene and haircuts, and birth certificates for children living in slums around the city. Children are also visited throughout the week, with personal tutoring, meals, and mentorship. Through this sponsorship program, children from a slum community are placed in good schools and have the opportunity to learn.
“She is so lovely. She is often top of her class in her school and takes such good care of her uniform and shoes. She also used to take part in our free lunch program that we provide for children living in the slums because hungry stomachs does not help them learn. She told me to give the lunch we provide for her to another child from her neighbourhood that she knew needed it more than she did. She told us her grandma living in another slum can make her lunch instead so that her friend can have lunch. We are so proud of her and her heart!”
Education is a key to job opportunities and for many living in slums in Phnom Penh, it helps break the cycles of poverty, abuse, and human trafficking. Putting children in schools is a method of prevention, concerning anti-trafficking efforts. Programs that will provide education assistance are much needed in these poor and at-risk communities. Every child has the right to education. However, many children also don’t have enough to eat, sometimes go days without food.
Everyday, XP Missions deliver hot meals by tuk tuk to each of the slums they work in. Taking care of their physical hunger, children can focus on learning and developing into who God created them to be! Not only do XP Missions provide food and financial support, they walk with each child they support by caring and providing tutoring services within the slums. They also work with the parents and families, teaching the community to support their child on their education journey. Through your purchases, Barefoot Love is able to support those on the front-lines in fighting against human trafficking!
