Lotus Outreach: Help When Needed
Human trafficking is the buying and selling of humans for all types of
labor purposes (wikipedia.com). Women and children are forced to work
against their will, with little or no pay in industries like prostitution. Luckily,
there are many programs that help prevent situations like this. One of these
programs, The Lotus Outreach, focuses primarily on ensuring the wellbeing of
women and children in third world countries such as India and Cambodia.
Khyentse Norbu, the founder of Lotus Outreach, is making a difference in this
cause through education, funding, and providing opportunities for less
fortunate people.
In India and Cambodia, women and girls tend to be valued very little. The
majority of sex workers are females, and overall, those women are thought to
be less than human. Lotus Outreach gives these same sex workers, previously
believed to be dirty, subhuman creatures, classes to teach them how to read
and write (lotusoutreach.com). Furthermore, with reading and writing comes
knowledge of the outside world, then personal opinions. By giving women
chances to become educated, Lotus Outreach also gives them a chance to have
more equality with men. Not only does Lotus Outreach work to advance these
women, but it also educates the future in the sense that it breaks down
stereotypes. When more people are better educated, other things tend to
improve, such as corruption and dishonesty in that country. By allowing
women to formulate opinions about the world around them, third-world
countries become more intelligent as a whole.
Lotus Outreach is funded by various
companies, such as The International
Foundation and Buddhist Global Relief,
and it also accepts donations to put
money towards the wellbeing of
women and children
(lotusoutreach.org/supporters). This
money is used to pay for the
infrastructure made up of local
companies that help both prevent
human trafficking and take in women