Circle Of Sisterhood: The Story of Neth, Chapter 2

Chapter Two

    Neth was very pretty, short, and light-skinned. She looked fourteen or fifteen, but she thought she was much older than that; she had no idea of her actual birth date. A female cousin had taken Neth from their village, telling the family that Neth would be selling fruit in Poipet. Once in Poipet, Neth was sold to the brothel and closely guarded. After a check by a doctor confirmed that her hymen was intact, the brothel auctioned off her virginity to a Thai casino manager, who locked her up in a hotel room for several days and slept with her three times and he later died from AIDS. Now Neth was confined to the guesthouse and was young enough and light-skinned enough to rent for top rates. When she was allowed to go out into the village she was under close watch since there was fear that she would run away. However, this is something Neth wouldn’t even consider doing out of fear of getting beaten.

    Nick bought Neth for $150 and returned her to her home village. Neth opened up a grocery shop, which initially was a thriving business. Unfortunately men in the area took advantage of uneducated women and would take her things without paying. After the decline of her shop Neth almost got back into trafficking but was stopped by a member of the American Assistance for Cambodia named Bernie. Bernie arranged for Neth to move to Phnom Penh and study English and hair dressing. She excelled in this and wanted to own her salon. During her time there Neth found out that she had AIDS and became deathly ill and discouraged. Neth fell in love and married a man named Sothea and they had a baby. During her pregnancy Neth found out her previous AIDS diagnosis was false and that she was actually HIV negative. Neth got back on her feet and pursued her career in hairdressing and is now working as a manager in a small shop near her home village gaining experience so that she can open up her own shop in the near future.

Hawaiian parable: A man goes out on the beach and sees that it is covered with starfish that have washed up in the tide. A little boy is walking along, picking them up and throwing them back into the water. “What are you doing, son?” the man asks. “You see how many starfish there are? You’ll make a difference.” The boy paused thoughtfully, and picked up another starfish and threw it into the ocean. “It sure made a difference to that one,” he said.

Story summarized from Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kriston and Sheryl WuDunn, Vintage Books,  2009

Circle of Sisterhood: The Story of Srey Rath Chapter 1

When Srey Rath was 15 years old, she went to work in Thailand as a dishwasher to help support her family who was suffering from financial need.  Srey went with her new employers but was surprised when she was not taken to work as a dishwasher but was actually given to gangsters and sent to Malaysia.  She arrived at a brothel and her boss told her she must repay the debt she owed to him. She tried to fight back but was beaten each time she did.  All of the girls at the brothel were beaten and tortured into compliance and forced to smile.  They were forced to “work” every day of the week for at least 15 hours per day. The girls were never allowed to leave the brothel and never saw any of the money.  

Srey Rath was lucky. She was a strong young girl who was able to escape. One night, she and a few other girls broke open a window and climbed across a board only 5-inches wide to the balcony of the nearest apartment building.  Many girls were too afraid to follow in fear that they would fall and die.  Srey was willing to take that chance.  She escaped and was able to find a social worker who gave her the information for a group that supports girls who fall victim to sex-trafficking.  They gave her $400 of money that had been donated to their organization so that she could by a cart and become a street peddler.  Srey Rath is an intelligent young woman and was soon able to start saving money and expand her business.  Today she owns not just a cart but a stall, and the stall next to it. And the stall next to that. Today she is married and has a young son. She is currently saving money to provide her son the education she was never able to receive.

Story summarized by Kelly Tankard from Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kriston and Sheryl WuDunn, Vintage Books, © 2009.

A New Philanthropy: Circle of Sisterhood

The Circle of Sisterhood is an organization created by sorority women that has made it's way onto many college campuses. Now, we have decided to bring it to KU. Below is what the Circle of Sisterhood Foundation calls their story;

"In the mid 1800s in America, women stood together for the right to go to college and thus began the sorority movement.  Now, almost 150 years later and more than 5 million strong, we vow to continue our Founders' legacy by standing together again to help girls and women go to school around the world.

As women, who have in common a college education, we know that access to quality schooling affords a better life for a woman and that of her family. For too many girls and women around the world, access to quality education is often limited. And education is the answer to many of the global issues related to women - poverty, oppression, misogyny, brutality. Ultimately, more and more educated girls will mean stronger and healthier villages, communities and entire countries.

One person can make a small difference. But as a community of 5 million, our collective efforts will be transforming for generations to come."

© Copyright 2011 by Circle of Sisterhood Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity

This organization was created based off of a book called Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kriston and Sheryl WuDunn. The Panhellenic Association has decided to introduce this organization to campus by creating awareness and becoming educated ourselves on the issues and problems Circle of Sisterhood is trying solve. In order to do this we will read a chapter and present a story from one of the women featured in Half the Sky during each council meeting. We then encourage all our members to bring this story back to their chapters by reading the information at their own chapter meetings. Stay tuned to our blog and website for updated information and story summaries.