The Latest News at Sak Saum

We thought it might be nice to catch you up on what Sak Saum has been up to the last few weeks. Here's the latest news.

We are perhaps in the busiest production season we've had yet! Orders for fall/holiday parties seem to be arriving daily. So great! If you are interested in helping Sak Saum by hosting a fall party, simply email saksaum@ihsionline.org or fill out the advocate form on the right column of the blog to get started.

Hung preparing fabric for sewing.

Serai, one of our first girls in Sak Saum, cutting fabric for fall bags.

The girls have also been busy on the weekends taking care of their land. (If you didn't have a chance to read about Sak Saum's land purchase, check out our blog "Empowering Women Through Land.") So much fun! Clearing out old banana trees, planting fruit trees and vegetables and of course some picnicking and exploring!

The view of the river from the land...

A friendly visitor...

A local "road" leading to other islanders' homes.

Ginny, Sak Saum's International Director, and the girls with the details on how the land is divided.

We have also welcomed some new additions this fall. Sak Saum now has 10 girls participating in the program full-time along with two younger girls who are staying at Sak Saum until In His Steps International's safehouse opens this September/October. The girls were at high-risk for being trafficked and so we took them in with open arms. IHSI's safehouse is designed specifically for children who are high-risk for abuse or trafficking. 

Sak Saum's national director, Theavy, works with local government officials for the safe release of Soki and Giaway into In His Steps/Sak Saum's care.

Government officials, IHSI staff and others who helped make this rescue possible.

A picture of In His Steps' safehouse located in the Saang district. Situated on the same property as our Foundation Center, this building has room for twelve children to receive love, education, discipleship and healing in a safe place.

This leads us to our final bit of news. From Sak Saum's beginning in 2007, the focus has always been reaching the Saang district. Many of our girls are from Saang and it is an area with many vulnerable and exploited women in need of love, healing and freedom.

Recently God has opened the doors for us to start raising funds for a Sak Saum Vocational Training Center in Saang. We are so incredibly excited! The goal is to begin building in January 2011. Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks for a full blog update on this new project.

Thanks so much for your support and prayers. We are so grateful for you!

Until next time...