Pizza and Freedom

Recently, I was honored to spend almost a week with our girls at our Freedom Salon in Phnom Penh. These girls are such a joy!

With great enthusiasm, they accepted my invitation for a night out together to eat pizza. Like any other teenage girls, they spent two hours doing their make-up and hair for their night out. We drove up to the salon in the pouring rain and our girls piled in, full of laughter and chattering in Khmer. As they ate their pizza (including hot dog crust) and drank Coca-Cola, they seemed like any other teenage girl. I sat back and soaked in the sight of their joy. As I looked from girl to girl around the table, I thought about where they would be if it were not for our Rapha House Freedom Salon. A brothel? A karaoke bar? Horrible to even imagine.

A few days later, I had the opportunity to sit down with each of the girls and I asked them to tell about themselves. I knew the girls were thankful for this place they call home for now; but in my limited American experience, I still found myself a little surprised. Of course they love learning to do hair and make-up; but most of our girls said that they love having food to eat, clothing to wear, and not being afraid anymore. My thought: This is a good foundation to build a future on. Now, they can focus on what their future will look like…a future of freedom.

Are you a stylist? Please join us! Not a stylist? Help us spread the word to stylists in your area! You can make the difference between slavery and freedom by partnering with Rapha House! Contact us today.