Happiness on Christmas Day
17 year-old-Chenda is rebuilding her life after suffering from years of sexual exploitation, and has been staying at World Vision Cambodia’s Trauma Recovery Centre for more than a year. This year is Chenda’s second Christmas celebration at the centre.
Standing with World Vision staff next to a pile of colourful gifts and a Christmas tree, Chenda and her friends are cheerfully celebrating their second Christmas.
17 year-old Chenda is a Vietnamese immigrant. The second of two siblings born to a poor family, Chenda left school at an early age to help support her family at a coffee shop. With a sick father, she agreed to the position in order to earn a living and pay for her father’s medication. However, the job turned out to be a ruse, and Chenda was forced to become a sex worker.
She had a terrible experience with sexual exploitation, but in 2012, an organization rescued Chenda from the sex trade and sent her to the World Vision recovery centre. While at the Trauma Recovery Centre, Chenda received life skill trainings, psychological support and healthcare.
“Today is a special day for us. We have opportunity to join together in Christmas joy,” says Chenda. Girls stay at the centre for up to two years, going through the difficult process of rebuilding relationships with their families, learning skills with which they can support themselves, and working through what happened to them. The Christmas celebrations are a rare opportunity to put the past behind them.
“I feel so happy today,” Chenda says. “It is seldom for us to meet in joy together with love.”
The winter is a cold time in Cambodia, and Chenda has dressed accordingly in thick clothes and a knitted hat that will keep her warm during rehearsals. As part of the Christmas celebrations at the centre, the girls have organised a small show for their nurses, family, and friends.
In the skit Chenda is playing Ceasar Augustus, a powerful man who could order other people to do whatever he wants. “No one can look down on him,” Chenda says proudly, perhaps reflecting on her own precarious reintegration into society. In the performance Chenda revels in playing a strong man and receives cheerful applause from the spectators off stage. Besides the role-play, Chenda also returns later in the performance to dance a ‘wish dance’ across the stage.
This is Christ’s birthday celebration, and the staff have prepared a small birthday cake with candles for the girls to enjoy. Chenda happily eats dinner together with the other girls and World Vision staff. Before coming to the centre, Chenda had only had food like this during Vietnamese New Year celebrations.
This year is Chenda’s second Christmas celebration at the centre. The girls and staff all exchange gifts, and Chenda has worked hard to make a vase for one of her friends. In turn, some of the girls have made her a purse.
“The gift really is worth it for me. I will remember this because it brings me life. Unfortunately, we won’t stay here forever,” says Chenda. All girls will be reintegrated into their families once they are ready to stand on their own again, usually after one or two years.
Her friends at the centre, her parents, and World Vision’s staff and supporters are all in Chenda’s prayers tonight.
Chenda’s own dream is to open a wedding salon. “I would like to start my small shop when I return home,” she says.
“I am so proud of World Vision staff for making this celebration happen,” Chenda smiles. “I will tell my family to understand about this joy when I return home. And we will celebrate together.”