Sarah Tran Reflects on Working For a Year with ADAPT

Sarah Tran volunteers at the An Giang Dong Thap Alliance for the Prevention of Trafficking (ADAPT) in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.

My experience, my growth, my contributions during this last year all comes down to the moments and relationships shared with the people I have met.

Sarah with some of her VIA family at last year's in-country training

My local colleagues are some of the most caring, determined, and humble people I have ever met. From ceaselessly toiling away in our small office, 5am motorbike rides out into the countryside to visit our scholarship recipients, to the way they remember each girl, each house, each story of the hundreds of girls in our programs – I am constantly inspired by their endless dedication matched only by their humor.

While I no longer have any blood family in Vietnam, I still got to be a part of a whole new family this last year. My VIA family ranges across countries and each personality is memorably unique but everyone shares a good heart, a willingness to learn, and a willingness to give. When we’re together, we love to dance, to go swimming at midnight, to reach out to each other professionally and personally whether countries apart or just a hammock away. I am grateful to know that I have friends and homes all around the world that will welcome me if ever my traveling feet carry me there.

Lastly, the girls and young women in our programs. I remember the girl who clutched my arm as she patiently led me from one friend’s house to another. The girl whose foot lay close to her mother’s palm while her mother spoke of how much she loved her. The one who laughed and told me she wanted to become a doctor and travel and who still remembered me when I returned to her school. The one who cried when I asked her if she wanted to drop out of school to help her family. The girl in our shelter whose artistry formed delicate red roses and comets on my nails. They are who I think of when I think of human trafficking.  They, and the thousands of other girls who are either at-risk of being trafficked, currently trapped and exploited, or those who have managed to get free and are trying to rebuild their lives. They are the people and lives we speak of when we think about human trafficking so how could I ever turn my face away from such beauty and strength?  And how can I ever do less than fight what aims to use and destroy them?

It is for all these treasured moments and relationships that exemplify for me the impact of my year in VIA.