"That's the beauty of it.
We simply provide tools; they free themselves."

Nepal Evaluation Shows Success and Develops new Benchmarks
By Rebecca Callahan

Free A Child operates with the strong belief that grassroots empowerment of communities is the best way to combat trafficking where it happens. Over the years, we have felt confident that our projects are reaching the right populations and making an important contribution to the fight against human trafficking. However, as our organization has grown, it was time we evaluate programs to identify what we were doing right and what more could be done to improve and grow the project. Between March and July of 2004, as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, I had the opportunity to put The Putali Project, Free A Child's trafficking prevention initiative in Nepal through a rigorous and thorough evaluation.

So what did we learn? We learned that the project is working. Girls are attending meetings, spreading messages about trafficking prevention, carrying out income generating projects, and learning new skills. FULL STORY

New Film to Feature Free A Child
by Kathleen Man

In February 2004, I began production on a feature-film project in Nepal under the auspices of Free A Child (FAC) and its non-government partner organization, GWP based in Hetauda, Nepal. I went to Nepal with the intention of shooting a documentary focusing on the exploitation of women and children and their forced entry into prostitution.

Very soon after my arrival, however, the structure of my project changed from that of an informative documentary on child trafficking to a more personal treatment of the issue. This was inspired by a street drama which I witnessed and filmed on my second day in Hetauda. The girls who participate in The Putali project, Free A Child's empowerment program in the heavily-trafficked Terai region, regularly perform their street drama entitled "Bichari Sita (Poor Sita)" to the public. Their play tells the sad story of Sita, a young village girl who is tricked into sexual slavery and kicked out onto the streets when she contracts HIV/AIDS. I was so impressed by the play and the convictions of the performers, that I decided to scrap my original idea and develop a narrative that incorporated their play.

After a year-and-a-half, "Sita" is in the final stages of post-production and will be screened in Boulder, CO after its completion. Check the Free A Child web site after September 1st for updates on public screenings. FULL STORY

Help Us Help Them...

Please help us empower children with a donation to Free A Child. No amount is too small. For example, as little as $15 allows Free A Child to buy a goat for one girl in Nepal. The gift of a goat gives one girl:

• A chance to become economically independent.
• A sense of accomplishment and self-confidence.
• The power to turn away potential traffickers.

Donate today and you will help us empower children and reduce the incidence of sex trafficking.

FAC UPDATES

Thank You Volunteers!

As always, Free A Child is very grateful for our generous donors and volunteers. Today we would like to specifically thank the following volunteers for their time given to FAC:

Helena Unger, Saadia Naiman, Vicki Somberg, Karen Martinez, Lin Welch, Brandi Thomas, Julia Kintsch, Gary Wang, Donna Rhodes, Lin Welch, Greg Duran, Jenn Weede and Satellite Designs.

Free A Child to Launch U.S. Program

Free A Child has partnered with Urban Peak of Denver, CO to initiate a new program to prevent the exploitation and trafficking of children into the sex trade in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of State's 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report released this June, more than one million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade annually. Both FAC and Urban Peak understand that this is a global problem that includes an active industry in the U.S. The organizations are dedicated to working together to reverse this rapidly growing enterprise by launching the first Denver-based pilot project this winter.

Free A Child and Urban Peak Release Research Results

The first step in developing the U.S. program was to conduct an 8-city survey of homeless youth. Released in June, this survey interviewed over 700 homeless youth. Two of the questions asked if they had ever been solicited for sex by an adult or actually had sex with an adult in exchange for money, food, clothing, shelter or drugs. Almost one-third of the youth sampled report having been asked to participate in some form of prostitution and one in ten young people acknowledge actually having participated in what is termed "survival sex." The eight cities included in the survey are Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Austin and St, Louis. These cities will be Free A Child target cities as it rolls out the U.S. program.

Colorado Launches Interagency Task Force
on Trafficking in Persons

CO House Bill 1143 led by State Rep. Alice Borodkin creates an interagency task force to determine the nature and extent of trafficking in Colorado to make recommendations for legislative, policy and programmatic initiatives to address this affront to basic human rights. Free A Child is one of two nonprofit organizations sitting on the task force. Check out the Denver Post story featuring FAC: http://denverpost.com/news/ci_2854819

Free A Child Serves up Dinner at Urban Peak

In early June, FAC board members and volunteers had the great pleasure of making dinner for the homeless youth at Urban Peak in Denver. This fun event is always rewarding, but also a great way to access the thoughts and ideas of the youth we hope to serve. FAC will be cheffing it up once more at Urban Peak on October 15th. Please join us! Contact: director@freeachild.org if you would like to participate.

Board of Directors:
Kenlyn Kolleen, President
Teri Robnett, Vice President
Sarabeth Donovan, Secretary
Janelle Manzanares, Treasurer
Rebecca Callahan
Kathleen Man
Hilarie Kavanagh, Founder
Carolee Corey, Founder

Staff:
Dana Donley, Executive Director
Susan Morris, Office Manager

(720) 890-1457
info@freeachild.org

P.O. Box 4203
Boulder, CO 80306-4203

825 S. Broadway, Suite 35
Boulder, CO 80305-5963