By Tanya Cronin

Local humanitarians combat human trafficking in Thailand

Apr 11, 2018 | 4:12 PM

KAMLOOPS — Human trafficking is an international problem on a growing scale that affects millions of people each day. Thailand is particularly notorious for its high volume of human trafficking. Sadly, the industry brings billions of dollars each year to the Thai economy, which has caused some government officials, politicians and police to turn a blind eye. A Kamloops couple is hoping to change that. Brian and Karen Shaben run World Wide Life Humanitarian Partnership Society, and are living in Thailand. By providing educational opportunities, they are working to break the poverty cycle and rescue children and teens from a future of sexual exploitation.

It’s a picturesque country and a popular tourist destination for millions of people. But behind the beautiful beaches and turquois waters that line Thailand, this paradise country holds a dark reputation for ‘sex tourism’.

“There are streets, you can look down a street in Pattaya and there will be literally as far as you can see 1000 to 1200 prostitutes hanging out at these girly bars, and lets not joke what they’re there for,” says Brian Shaben, co-founder of World Wide Life Humanitarian Partnership Society.

Poverty, lack of education, and no economic opportunity make many Thai girls potential victims of sex-traffickers. Kamloops couple Brian and Karen Shaben are working to break the vicious cycle, that has plagued the country for so many years.

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“It’s a desperation for money because they have lived in such poverty they don’t know how they’re going to survive, so there becomes this desperation for money,” says Karen Shaben, co-founder of World Wide Life Humanitarian Partnership Society.

“I think also it brings a lot of money into the country, sex tourism and we know there’s a lot of corruption in the government,” says Brian Shaben.

For the past three years, Brian and Karen have been living in Northern Thailand, helping Hill Tribe children, and guiding young women to recognize their value and self-worth. Through their humanitarian organization, they’re providing education, vocational training, and outreach to remote villages.

“It’s our heart, it’s our belief system as well, and we believe we were very blessed to live here and to be born here and have the life we had here, and we really believe we’re supposed to bless other people,” says Karen Shaben.

Along with their work in schools, the Shaben’s run training programs, help marginalized families, and care for ‘at-risk’ teens who would otherwise fall through the cracks, end up marrying into a life of hardship and extreme poverty, or worse, become sexually exploited.

“We have four girls we’ve been caring for, we have the ability in our house to care for a couple more, we just haven’t found those girls yet, some are full-time foster care which means we take care of everything for them, some we do partial things like pay for their education.”

A typical Hill Tribe family gets by on an income of less than $500 a year. Unable to care for them, many end up abondoning their children, who are then forced into prostitution or slave labour. Brian and Karen are passionate about what they do, and have no plans to give up.

“We’ve become more passionate about it, more caring and compassionate about people overall because of it, I have to keep doing this for as long as it takes to make life better for these kids,” says Shaben.

The Shaben’s rely heavily on donations to keep their non-profit work going. Before heading back to Thailand, they are holding a fundraiser on April 22 at On the Rocks Pub. Tickets are $20 each and includes a meal and silent auction. For more information on World Wide Life visit www.humanitarianpartnership.com