Grade 12 student Grace Smyth's summer wasn't that of a typical teen. Instead, Smyth, 17, of Carlyle spent the month of August in the Philippines, Cambodia and Malaysia, helping "survivors of sexual violence: people who have been sexually exploited or abused within their families; including victims of human trafficking."
Smyth's 2014 trip began July 27 at Eston College where she attended bootcamp for a week. "I had been on an overseas mission trip before, but this helped to prepare [the group] and teach us how to talk to people."
After that, she travelled until Aug. 31 with two groups: Street Invaders Youth Missions Program to the Philippines and immediately after, to Cambodia and Malaysia, with Hope For Her International.
Smyth says, "At the rescue centre in Cambodia, the youngest girl is 12. It's really hard seeing girls that young; but it's equally hard seeing 16 or 17-year-old girls in Cambodia; because it's almost as though it's considered not as bad, because they're almost legal anyway."
"I really noticed that this year, because they're the same age as I am. If I was in this place, no one would be helping me and because I was born in Canada, my life is entirely different from theirs."
"It was hard coming home coming home," says Smyth. "I have a lot of reverse culture shock. It's really emotionally draining coming home. It makes you feel thankful and lucky, too. I wish everyone could see that."
Although Smyth and her group did hands-on work, she said a big part of their mission with victims of sexual exploitation was "to spend time, to build relationships and trust. They're always told 'We love you', but they need to get that sense of trust back and know what [love] really means."
"In Cambodia, the language barrier was quite heavy, but we still were able to communicate.We were able to teach them a bit of a song; and because they're learning skills they will be able to use to earn a sustainable income, they painted our nails and braided our hair."
"We travelled and worked all over Cambodia," says Smyth. "We travelled by ferries, taxis, motorcycles, bikes and buses."
"We worked with other agencies, too. One was the International Justice Mission who do undercover work rescuing people out of prostitution and working with governments to change the laws."
In Malaysia, Smyth's group "set up a soup kitchen for homeless people and talked to prostitutes and people on the streets. Some of the people were high and people kind of write them off. We got some dirty looks and we were on a popular road for backpackers and tourists and a lot of them were asking what we were doing there," says Smyth.
"But a lot of people that end up there have no choice. One lady we talked to worked at an office in the day. She prostituted herself at night, because she needed the equivalent of $300 a month to support her parents. That's her responsibility. That's her culture. She told us she had siblings, but they wouldn't help, so it was left to her to find a way to support her elderly parents and herself."
Smyth says her "favourite country" is the Philippines. "I really have a soft spot in my heart for the Philippines," she says. "I love their people. While I was there, there was a two-month-old baby named Liberty. She was dying and her mom was hand-pumping oxygen for her. She couldn't afford the 2,000 pesos-which is the equivalent of about fifty Canadian dollars-for a blood transfusion. Our team paid and she survived. It was really hard, though, because it wasn't much to us, but it was lifesaving for this baby girl. People can help so much with what is so little to us."
"We worked a lot with Philippine Frontline Ministries," says Smyth. "They sponsor a safe home, a school and a kids' church, among other things. They rescue kids from the streets who would otherwise die, probably of starvation. Lots of these kids are neglected. I've seen kids as young as six or seven that are caring for babies as young as a few months old, with no parents."
"When I first went to the Philippines in 2013, I met a little girl who was blind in one eye due to malnutrition. She lives in the Frontline shelter outside of Manila. This year, she turned eight and she told me that I'm her best friend."
"It's more of a global success, but when we went to Cambodia, we learned that an organization called Agape has almost taken over an area that used to be well-known for child trafficking internationally. People from around the world would go there for that reason. Now, Agape has turned it into a place where women go to work at sewing and silk-screening businesses. These are sustainable businesses that don't have to exploit child labour laws or resort to sexual exploitation, now."
Smyth says that although the work is emotionally demanding, she will be continuing her missions.
"I'd like to go to university eventually, to study speech pathology," she says. "But missions have a big place in my heart, so I'll be going back soon."
Along with her parents, Dale and Cindy, her older sister, Sarah, and her "very supportive friends," Smyth says her best friend, Breanna Kehler (also from Carlyle), is encouraging and understanding of her devotion to her mission work.
"My first mission was to Prince Albert in 2012," says Smyth. "We worked with children who were abused and abandoned, we did hospital missions, we slept on the streets for a night and we worked with people who were victims of sexual exploitation, here in our own province. A lot of the reasons people end up in those situations are the same, wherever you are in the world. Breanna and I are doing similar work on opposite sides of the world."
Smyth fully funds her mission trips and donates excess funds to the organizations she works alongside. "I work at Kings Department Store in Carlyle and I coach figure skating. I had a garage sale this year," she says. "And I also do more personal fundraising."
"It changed me. It makes me care more about issues in other areas of the world. Sometimes people ask me what I think I'm doing over there. But to me, if I'm helping one person, that's good enough for me."
To donate, or to find out more, check out Philippine Frontline Ministries at: www.thefrontline.asia
