Would you be able to tell us a little bit about bloom asia and the work you do?
Bloom Asia is about breaking cycles of exploitation and abuse in trafficking survivors’ lives. Sadly, approximately 6.3 million people are caught in the atrocities of forced sexual exploitation throughout the world today. Thankfully, they are being rescued, but we tend to assume that everything is going to be ok in their lives from that point on. This is often far from the case with that moment of rescue being just the very start of their freedom journey.
Many rescued trafficking survivors, face huge challenges like poverty, debt, lack of education and unsafe communities in their lives! On top of this, they are dealing with the effects of severe and complex trauma because of what's happened to them. These challenges can lead to a cycle of exploitation which is almost impossible to break out of alone. This is why Bloom Asia exists – to break that cycle! We support and empower trafficking survivors to build new lives for themselves after they've been rescued.
The best news is that we do it through making and decorating cakes!
Tell us the story of what drove you to start bloom asia and build it to where it is today?
I always say when people ask this question that there is the long version and the short version to this story. I'll stick with the short version for today. I started Bloom Asia after visiting Cambodia in 2006 and meeting some of these precious teenage girls for the first time. I could see how desperate they were for a new life after they'd been rescued, but they just didn't know where to start.
I wanted to help. Now, 17 years later, Bloom Asia has its Freedom Centre in Cambodia which can train and employ up to 80 trafficking survivors at a time. It is a sanctuary for these girls who need time and support to recover from their pasts and build strong new futures. We offer hospitality training (specialising in cake decorating of course!), literacy classes, counselling services, medical care and employment! It's a bright, beautiful and bustling space!
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT ONE OF THE WOMEN WHO HAVE COME THROUGH YOUR PROGRAM, AND
How it has helped them?
There are so many incredible young women and girls I could pick from to share. They all are so courageous and talented! One of these young women is Nary. Nary was sold at just 6 years old! But now, she has gone on to become a world-class cake decorator, a business owner and has a family of her own! She left Bloom Asia a number of years ago, but still supports new survivors coming into the Freedom Centre. Last year Nary created a short film with us to share her story. I'd highly recommend you checking it out here: www.bloomasia.org/freetobeme
What do you feel have been the biggest challenges so far with running bloom asia?
I You can't rush the healing process. I say this to our counselors all the time, “you are working with some of the most complex cases on the planet!” This is a challenge when faced with such a huge magnitude of a problem and little resources to meet it. Of course we want to help as many young women as possible, but we can't speed up the process of their healing or development.
We also can't dilute the resources each survivor needs to build authentic freedom into their lives. For many, it's years of specialised support, skills development and unconditional love before their lives begin to build momentum. And at Bloom Asia we're committed to just that!
How can our readers get involved and support bloom asia?
IJust like Bloom Asia is using sugar for good, so can you! You can host your own “Sip and Decorate” event as a fundraiser to support these incredible young women. Everything you need is all ready to go at www. sipanddecorate. bloomasia. org. We're also always looking for expert cake decorators to donate their time to travel to Cambodia and teach our team new skills! If you're a professional with unique skills, and are happy to travel we'd love to hear from you to see if they'd be a great fit for teaching the girls.
What's in store for bloom asia in 2025?
We have so many exciting things going on this year. To kick the year off we secured a 2.5m high wedding cake due in February! This is going to keep everyone exceptionally busy! We've just opened an Early Learning Centre to support young mums to access our training and employment. And we've also just welcomed a new class of 19 trafficking survivors, who are at the very start of their freedom journeys and eager to begin. It's going to be a busy, but wonderful year! More information: www. bloomasia. org instagram. com / bloomasia
