Pacific Links-organized event fosters development, one community at a time

 

PAS staff talks with a community group that provides counseling on anti-trafficking-in-persons to women in the Mekong Delta

On November 25-26, PAO and CAA represented the Consulate General at the Mekong Women for Community Development Ceremony held in Can Tho with about 200 women from Can Tho, Kien Giang, and An Giang provinces. Organized by Pacific Links Foundation with funding from the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, this event supports core Mission Strategic Plan goals of encouraging respect for human rights and promoting economic growth and development. MWCD provided seed grants of nine million and six hundred VND (around USD 564) each to women’s groups working on anti-human trafficking, vocational training, clean water, micro-credit loans, or nutrition. Those funded to work on anti-trafficking-in-persons (TIP) explained their counseling and outreach efforts to victims, including having to visit returnees grappling with societal stigmatization up to seven times to help them re-integrate the community. One woman, 51, stood up in tears to relay her experience as the third wife of a Korean man. One vocational training success centered on making furniture from water hyacinth; the group reported they are now exporting hyacinth chairs and mattresses. To stem a labor exodus between rice growing seasons, micro-loans of one million VN dong (59 USD) to each households translated into micro businesses that provide regular income.