Mission Statement:

To  provide    an 

environment  free  from 

t r a f f i c k i n g   a n d 

exploitation  to  the 

women  with  the  tools 

of  hope,  healing  and 

transformation. 

The last 5 months have been a time of growth for Precious Women. We have gained new staff members, held Women’s Fel lowship part ies, undergone log-frame training, conducted home visits, worked with partner organizations to prov ide vocat iona l training, counseling and aftercare and received our first bookings with

Precious Bride. We h o s t e d a Y W A M volunteer team and we received a generous donation from the Bicycle Project. We hold to our vision of providing hope to women exploited in the KBB’s and are passionate about women living in freedom, wholeness and dignity.

O v e r v i e w

U P C O M I N G E V E N T S

Staff retreat to Sihanouk Ville in June. Team from Boston will be visiting towards the end of June. T e a m f r o m Australia will be visiting at the end of July. We will be doing some training at Legacy of Hope International on the end of August.

Newsletter January - May 2012

Vision Statement:

To  see  all  exploited 

women  who  work  at 

KBB  in  Cambodia  live 

with  dignity,  equality 

and hope. 

Our staff have been working hard and are doing well. We are pleased that three people have joined our staff this year. Irene Keller has been with us since January and is the Director’s

Assistant, Vicky Simpson joined us in April and is our S o c i a l M e d i a a n d Communications officer Officer, as well as teaching English to some of the staff and Keav Thy has just joined us as a janitor.

Staff News

THE

YEAR

SO

FAR

P R E C I O U S W O M E N M I N I S T R Y

P R A Y E R P O I N T S

Lida’s Pregnancy would go smoothly Finances for the next few years

God would provide staff who are a good fit Staff Retreat would be a time of refreshing & fun

Effective, lasting outreach

Training for women will go smoothly

offering them.

During one of our

outreaches in February

we met a young

widowed mother who

had left her daughter

with family in the

province while she

earned money in a beer

garden. She was often

forced to sleep with men

but did it knowing her

daughter was safe.

However, she found out

Choosing a Job You Love

The Prevention of Women Abuse

Ideas to Help Women Find Jobs

The response has been positive and we have received 108 calls and 228 miscalls since January.

After the topic; “Obstacles

for women working in the

“Night Work industry” we

received a call from a

woman in Phnom Penh

who works in a beer

garden in the city. She

shared some of her pain,

saying how hard it was

and that she often got sick

from all the beer she was

pressurized to drink, with

no breaks for food. She

was frequently subjected

to sexual harassment by

male pat rons and

sometimes slept with men

she met there for money.

She said kind men would

pay her the agreed sum

afterwards but cruel men

would refuse to pay and

would then verbally abuse

her. She hated the work

but felt trapped in it by her

responsibility to feed her

family. She wanted to

encourage other women

w o r k i n g i n t h e s e

establishments to do what

they could to protect

t h e m s e l v e s f r o m

harassment and abuse.

Her reality is what

motivates us to keep

reaching out to women

like her, offering hope,

love and alternative

choices.

Our weekly rad io broadcasts feature a speaker who shares their thoughts, wisdom and ideas on a given topic, encouraging discussion and also providing the opportunity for women who may not have heard of us or be able to come to us to phone in a n o n y m o u s l y w i t h questions or requests. So far this year, the broadcast has covered 8 topics: Health Care for

Women Women Abuse The Importance of

Counseling The Power of Love Obstacles for Women

Working in the “Night Work Industry”

R a d i o B r o a d c a s t

“Health care for women, Women

abuse, Counseling, The power of love and Choosing a job you love were some of the topics

discussed.”

Every other Friday night, an outreach team goes to beer gardens and karaoke bars in Phnom Penh to meet women working there, establish and build relationships and share the love of God. Where possible, the team also shares what we do as a ministry and explains the services we offer as well as our reasons for

that her daughter was

being sexually abused

and so bought her to

Phnom Penh and sought

our help. Both mother

and daughter are now

in a safe place. The

mother is currently

a t t e n d i n g b e a u t y

training and her

daughter is going to

school. We are trusting

God for restoration in

their lives.

F r i d a y N i g h t O u t r e a c h

variety of Beer Gardens and Karaoke Bars.

Of the other 4 parties, 2 were organized by the Peer to Peer Team and the last one was a collaborative effort between the staff and a

So far, we have held five parties this year, including holding an event to celebrate Women’s Rights Day. During the Women’s Day celebration we printed and distributed 100 Precious Women T-Shirts to women from a

visiting YWAM Team. The aim has been to provide a space of fun, love and good food and have been thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. In total, about 64 women and 5 men have attended these parties.

W o m e n ’ s F e l l o w s h i p P a r t y

I n t e r n a t i o n a l W o m e n ’ s E v e n t

We received a donation of 100 t-shirts from Love146 and put together a pack including a t-shirt, note of encouragement and information about Precious Women. Over 15 local volunteers joined us and we went out in teams to the various KBB’s.

The women and managers of the KBB’s were very

At the same day ”Lida was also invited to speak to 500 ladies at a women’s conference. The women had come from all over Cambodia and it was inspiring and encouraging to see so many women coming together to celebrate and affirm their value and rights. One of the women we’ve been helping with gave a t e s t i m o n y o f t h e transformation she’s had since coming to know Jesus and it was a great reminder to all of us of God’s saving power.

surprised to see us and s o m e w o m e n commented that they didn’t know what their rights were and had never been treated as valuable before. Many lives were touched that night as women realized they had not been forgotten and that there were people who genuinely cared for them and wanted to help them.

One of the women said, “Today is my day and I feel very special because of all of you!

C h u r c h A w a r e n e s s

“The local church is the hope of the world”- Bill Hybels.

God has mandated the church to stand up for truth and justice and to defend the rights of the oppressed. We aim to educate churches about the issues as well as give them tools to get involved. We have spoke at Living Faith Church and New Life Fellowship and On 30 March, we held a training day for church members and equipped the attendees with the use of a manual we developed called, “Love as a Catalyst of Transformation for Night

Workers.” Half of them were registered to be experience with the outreach team at that night and they were open their big eyes with the situation of un-respected, so alcoholic and listened to the story of the woman that forcing themselves for this choice. The attendees was encouraging to share the experiences with church leaders to see if church able to gathering team to reach out to these women. They really need to be experience with God’ Loves.

P r e c i o u s B r i d e

nails, makeup or all 3 done. Precious Bride has provided services for 3 weddings since March, as well as for one engagement.

Some Westerners have also used our services for the experience of having their makeup, hair and nails done traditionally and trying on a Khmer wedding dress. Our salon is open daily and is receiving a growing number of customers wanting their hair,

been receiving financial support and this year the Bicycle Project donated us 6 more bicycles, so that women undergoing training can get around more easily. Once training is completed we will help the women to find employment as well as a suitable and safe place of residence.

The Butterfly Home was started to provide a safe and empowering setting, on a temporary basis, for women undergoing vocational training. It currently houses 1 women, with 2 others having recently left as they found full time jobs. During their time in the home the women living there have

B u t t e r f l y H o m e

C o n t a c t U s

Seng Solida

Founder/Director

Ph: (+855) 12 90 24 89

solida@preciouswomenministry.org

www.preciouswomenministry.org

www.facebook.com/preciouswomenministry

www.twitter.com/preciouswomenpp

area of interest , thus enabling them to find work that is fulfilling and dignifying. The support of families is a very important contributing factor to women making g o o d d e c i s i o n s , particularly in terms of fo l lowing through , p e r s e v e r i n g a n d achieving their goals.

The Social Work and P e e r t o P e e r Department have visited 5 women at their homes in the province in the past 5 months. These visits have been largely successful, with the parents agreeing to support their daughters as they work towards getting training in their

C o u n s e l i n g & H o m e V i s i t s “The support of families is

a very important

contributing factor to

women making good

decisions.”