Celebrations of Hope '24

Every December, the Beginnings Foundation (www.beginningsfoundation.org) in Thailand throws a Celebration of Hope for girls and women trapped in sexual exploitation. 

What is a Celebration of Hope?
This is a night where the Beginnings Foundation and volunteers go into a red-light district and reach out to as many girls/women as possible, offering them a night off from their demoralizing "work" to attend a party that celebrates them and the sacrifices they make to support their families. Each Celebration is filled with fun, games, and gifts. Sadly, many of these girls have never received anything for free before. During the party, Foundation members share the love of Jesus and tell them about the opportunities the Beginnings Foundation offers to help them leave and live a life of freedom.

What are the ages of those who attend the parties?
The ages can range from 15-80 years old.

What Does the Beginnings Foundation Offer?
For Underage Girls: Beginnings offers a home filled with love and safety, private education, and support until graduation. Girls have graduated from Bible Studies, Fashion & Design, Science & Engineering, and Culinary Arts programs. Of course, once you enter the Home, you are officially family, and from that, you never graduate.

Sponsorships for girls in poverty to go to school.

For Women: Beginnings Foundation offers a range of vocational training, such as gardening, cooking, baking, and sewing.

​For the Elderly: Love and support with dreams of opening a daycare centre.

How Easy Is It for Girls/Women to Leave the Red-Light Districts? 
Leaving is incredibly challenging. With many of the girls and women coming from places of poverty with entire families depending on them to provide financially, the pressure is real. There are not many job options for them - allowing themselves to be sold for sex is a desperate last resort. Culture, religion, and family ties are intense pressures that hold many of the girls in place. Desperation to keep their younger sisters away often results in them bringing their sisters to Beginnings once they reach an age to "work" (usually around 13-15 yrs old), saying, "I will work twice as hard if you make sure my sister doesn't have to do what I do." Of course, they are never turned away!

Once you're being sold for sex, it's tough to get a job doing anything else. Many are stuck doing this even to old age.

New to 2024:
This year, Operation Open Eyes is partnering with The Refuge 18-2 to provide sand-tray therapy training for the beginning staff and other organisations in the area. This therapy is effective because, in a culture where they are brought up to not talk about anything negative due to religious reasons that would cause them to be born as something worse in the next life, this provides a way to show what happened rather than talk as though it happened to someone else, making it less intense and terrifying.

What Can We Do to Help?
I am so glad you asked! These celebrations cost money, and we are dependent on your generosity. So, please, please, donate! Every little really does help.

Your money will go towards the celebrations, gifts, outreach to the girls, Sand Tray Therapy supplies, our travel, accommodation, and food.

Let's make sure as many women and girls as possible find hope and the chance to never return to a place where they can be raped for profit.

UK donations made here are eligible for Gift Aid.
Everyone else can donate HERE!
    (Be sure to scroll down to the "USA & Rest of the World" section.)

Thank you so much.
We appreciate you!