We strive to ensure that young girls are protected by increasing the amount of time they spend safely in the classroom. When Nicky Mih, Free to Shine’s founder, spent time with survivors she found that none of the girls were in school when they were trafficked. Thus, Free to Shine believes that by expanding educational opportunities to children and increasing the amount of time they spend in school is beneficial from both a learning and safety stand point.

Free to Shine’s approach consists of working towards three main goals:

Our first goal is to create safe communities for children; we teach families how to protect themselves from exploitation and abuse. We address complex factors such as poverty, hunger, illness, unemployment, migration, addiction, violence, family breakdown and debt.

Our second goal is to provide girls with increased access to educational opportunities. While physically in the classroom girls are safe. We provide the materials and funds they need to access their local state school, and keep girls in school by providing access to water, food and shelter.

Our third goal is to encourage more women to enter positions of leadership. We model gender equity and invest in the next generation of Cambodian female leaders by providing leadership training to emerging leaders, and funding universities.