17 Year Old Raises $50,000 To Stop Thailand Child Trafficking

17 Year Old Raises $50,000 To Stop Thailand Child Trafficking

While many 17 year olds see the HSC as a necessary chore, Kelsey Baines used the opportunity to focus her major work on supporting a charity close to her heart. By holding a fundraising dinner and awareness evening, Kelsey raised close to $50,000 to create lasting change for the young girls in Thailand involved in child trafficking.

Every year between 700,000 to 4 million children are trafficked around the world with Thailand being one of the prime locations for child trafficking. Hands Across The Water is an Australian charity that is helping to change the fate of these young Thai girls by providing them with a stable home, education, healthcare and food.

Kelsey, daughter of the founder of Hands, Peter Baines, worked with the charity in order to organise the event at Arawan Thai Restaurant, Ryde on the 18th of July. The dinner and awareness night raised just under $48,000 which was enough money to provide 32 children with food, education and health care for one year but most importantly, restored hope to the young childrens lives.

'My aim was to raise enough money to rescue two girls from the brothels. COSA (Children's Organisation of Southeast Asia) approximated that it would cost $1500 for each girl to be rescued. I can't believe how much I've surpassed that original goal. I'm so proud of what I've achieved and so pleased to have the opportunity to help the girls," says Kelsey.

Thailand is considered a hub for trafficking, with the exploitation driven by poverty, official corruption, gender discrimination and natural disasters. Girls are especially vulnerable to being trafficked because they are often less educated, easy to overpower and taught to obey adults. For the girls born into the Thai trafficking industry, they are not recognised as citizens by the government and are therefore unable to buy land of their own. The homes built by Hands will help put an end to the cycle of Thai women who have been trafficked giving birth to state-less girls who are then trafficked themselves.

Kelsey recently returned from a trip to Thailand, with her high school friend Kobi, to see what is being done with the money raised from the charity dinner and to enlighten her friend on the work Hands is doing. Kelsey was motivated by her father's passion for the charity and decided to spend a month volunteering at the homes in Thailand. 'Every time I go to Thailand I come back so much more appreciative of what I have here but this time was different. It really opened my eyes to the business side of Hands. I was curious about how it works and I paid attention to how it could improve," says Kelsey.

'I'm doing this to provide new hope and possibilities for these girls. It's surreal to think that by changing even one life, you can influence their broader communities and generations to come," says Kelsey.

For more information on Hands Across The Water please visit www.handsacrossthewater.org.au or www.kelseybaines.com