YOUR IMPACT

We invest 100% of your purchases into our social mission to restore hope to exploited women and girls.

The Starfish Parable

One day, an old man was walking along a beach that was littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore by the high tide. As he walked he came upon a young boy who was eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one.

Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, “I’m saving these starfish, Sir”.

The old man chuckled aloud, “Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?”

The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water and turning to the man, said,

“I made a difference to that one!”

The Journey to Hope

At Starfish Project we help exploited women and girls experience freedom, establish independence and develop careers.


EXPERIENCE FREEDOM

We visit women and girls in brothels every week and invite them to experience freedom from exploitation. For each woman or girl who leaves a brothel to join Starfish Project, this is the beginning of a new life.

ESTABLISH INDEPENDENCE

We equip each woman or girl with the tools she needs to build an independent life through our holistic care programs and life skills training. This includes health care, housing, counseling and anything else she needs.

DEVELOP CAREERS

We then provide specialized vocational training to help her develop a future career in fields such as graphic design, photography and accounting. This training is a launching pad into a better future for her and her family.

9 Ways Your Purchase Transforms Lives

EXPLOITED WOMEN VISITED

Our Starfish Project teams serve over 400 women each month through weekly visits to the brothels. We provide medical support, educational lessons, birthday celebrations and safe loving friendships.

SAFE HOUSING PROVIDED

We operate one of the only safe shelters for women and children in the cities in which we operate. Our shelter program is designed to prepare women and girls for independent living.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES GIVEN

Each new woman who joins Starfish Project begins on our jewelry production team. As she matures and grows, she can move in to positions of leadership in the business, including material sourcing, accounting, quality control and photography.

COUNSELING PROVIDED

Each woman has the opportunity to begin to confront her pain, heal her hurts, and learn healthy life skills. Additionally, each woman works with a guidance counselor to develop and implement an individualized growth plan that helps her grow academically, professionally and emotionally.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING GIVEN

At Starfish Project we offer literacy, math, English and computer training. Through these courses, every woman has the opportunity to become certified in Microsoft Office software. Additionally, we support women in studying higher level skills, such as: photography, management and accounting.

FAMILIES UNITED

In the cities in which we operate many women send their children back to their villages where they only get to visit them once a year due to financial pressures. We encourage and help reunite the women of Starfish Project with their children so they can live together as a family.

CHILDREN EDUCATED

With the high costs of schooling in the cities, many migrant families are separated from their children. We provide education grants for employees' children to attend school in the city so they can remain with their parents.

HEALTH CARE PROVIDED

Every woman receives medical insurance and annual medical check-ups. We have professional medical volunteers that provide health classes to our women and offer services to women still working in the brothels.

 

EMPOWERMENT RELEASED

Our goal at Starfish Project is to provide the tools necessary for each woman to empower herself and act as a launching pad into a better future. We desire that each woman has great employment and educational opportunities, healthy marriages and relationships with their families.

STORIES OF HOPE

FAY

When Fay was a teenager she had to drop out of school and was trafficked to a brothel by a relative. After coming to Starfish Project, she has had the opportunity to study, heal and grow. Today, Fay is our Accounting Assistant and is studying for her Bachelor’s Degree in English.

MAE LEE

When Mae Lee was 15 she was trafficked to Greece and lived there for 6 years. When she was repatriated, she came to work at Starfish Project on our production team. Today, Mae Lee is our Finished Products Inventory Manager and is studying Greek. Her dream is to one day return to Greece and work as a translator.

BAY

Bay and her sister Ling were working in the same brothel when they decided to join Starfish Project. After working and studying through our holistic care program, Bay and Ling graduated and returned to their hometown. Bay is now using the business skills she developed to open and run a business with her husband.