THE OACKLAND TRIBUNE
10/18/2008
IT WAS A death march for many who tried to flee Cambodia, but Elizabeth Sy doesn't remember any of it. She was in her mother's belly as her family walked over sleeping soldiers and dead bodies, while stepping around land mines in their perilous escape to freedom.
Elizabeth would be born in Deerfield, Wis., where an American couple had sponsored her large family. Elizabeth was the 10th and last child, delivered by her 52-year-old mother.
It was a miracle the family even made it through the jungles of Cambodia, a dangerous two-month trek in 1982, during a time of violent civil war in that country.
''There was no food,'' Elizabeth was told later. ''Some of my siblings ate the buttons off their shirts. When they caught a lizard, that was like a really big meal. One of my sisters, less than a year old, got infected from the residue of cluster bombs. She ended up with a disability where one side of her body was shorter than the other, and she was less than able-minded.
''She was so sick, and crying so badly in the jungle that one of my family members said, 'You got to kill her because she's going to give us away.' My father started to suffocate her, but my mom had to stop him. That tells you the intensity of what it was like to try and escape.''
But Elizabeth's journey was only the beginning. Her financially struggling family moved from Wisconsin to the tony Southern California coastal town of Dana Point. Elizabeth worked in her family's doughnut business, then attended UC Berkeley before dropping out to become a stripper.
A night-club stripper would seem an unlikely recipient of the Agape Foundation's Rising Peacemaker Prize, which Sy (pronounced Cee) received last month in San Francisco. But her tireless work as a social worker in empowering Southeast Asian girls at risk, notably in the sex trade, impressed the Agape people.
Sy, 26, is the founder of Banteay Srei, an Oakland organization that helps girls and women between ages 14 and 19 make better life choices than the world of prostitution.
So why become a stripper, which Sy did for 2½ years in San Francisco? Well, at Cal she was diagnosed with cervical cancer at 18. This led to depression, lack of health insurance and serious debt — as well as a chance to make $1,000 a night taking her clothes off.
"I learned very valuable lessons," she said of stripping, "about this really underground culture, why people get into it, and how hard it is to get out of it. I told my mother about what I was doing, and she and her friends helped me transition out. But I paid my debts."
At Cal, she had taken a course on women's empowerment that became "a calling in life" as an activist. These last five years, she has worked specifically with Southeast Asian girls.
"They're so under the radar," she explained. "Asian women are so exoticized; people are willing to pay more for them. So they get recruited really aggressively."
And these are first-generation American-born girls living in Oakland.
"In Alameda County, there is a huge, underground minors-involved-with-prostitution scene — and of all cultures," Sy said Tuesday. "It's an epidemic of poor girls, some sexually abused, being recruited into this economic job opportunity. I have one girl, 16, who started at 11."
Sy works mainly with girls who aren't engaged in sex work — to stop them beforehand. Her group trains them in such traditional cultural choices as cooking and gardening. They also learn about health issues, and the risks of hurrying into teenage sex.
So why doesn't Banteay Srei (Cambodian for "women's temple") attempt to convince teen prostitutes of an alternative lifestyle?
"We don't have these romanticized ideas that we're going to get people out of the (sex) trade," Sy said. "When they need to make that change, it needs to come from within themselves. We try to give them the resources."
Sy was married a month ago to Liam O'Donoghue, 28, a media coach. Her social work ends next June when she enters nursing school. Her interesting life continues to expand.
It's a good thing her family made it through that Cambodian jungle.
"There was an incredible journey that happened before I was born into the world," she said. "And I've had an incredible journey in my 26 years. I've learned hard lessons, but I've never regretted anything, and I'm excited to see what I do with the rest of my life."
10/18/2008
IT WAS A death march for many who tried to flee Cambodia, but Elizabeth Sy doesn't remember any of it. She was in her mother's belly as her family walked over sleeping soldiers and dead bodies, while stepping around land mines in their perilous escape to freedom.
Elizabeth would be born in Deerfield, Wis., where an American couple had sponsored her large family. Elizabeth was the 10th and last child, delivered by her 52-year-old mother.
It was a miracle the family even made it through the jungles of Cambodia, a dangerous two-month trek in 1982, during a time of violent civil war in that country.
''There was no food,'' Elizabeth was told later. ''Some of my siblings ate the buttons off their shirts. When they caught a lizard, that was like a really big meal. One of my sisters, less than a year old, got infected from the residue of cluster bombs. She ended up with a disability where one side of her body was shorter than the other, and she was less than able-minded.
''She was so sick, and crying so badly in the jungle that one of my family members said, 'You got to kill her because she's going to give us away.' My father started to suffocate her, but my mom had to stop him. That tells you the intensity of what it was like to try and escape.''
But Elizabeth's journey was only the beginning. Her financially struggling family moved from Wisconsin to the tony Southern California coastal town of Dana Point. Elizabeth worked in her family's doughnut business, then attended UC Berkeley before dropping out to become a stripper.
A night-club stripper would seem an unlikely recipient of the Agape Foundation's Rising Peacemaker Prize, which Sy (pronounced Cee) received last month in San Francisco. But her tireless work as a social worker in empowering Southeast Asian girls at risk, notably in the sex trade, impressed the Agape people.
Sy, 26, is the founder of Banteay Srei, an Oakland organization that helps girls and women between ages 14 and 19 make better life choices than the world of prostitution.
So why become a stripper, which Sy did for 2½ years in San Francisco? Well, at Cal she was diagnosed with cervical cancer at 18. This led to depression, lack of health insurance and serious debt — as well as a chance to make $1,000 a night taking her clothes off.
"I learned very valuable lessons," she said of stripping, "about this really underground culture, why people get into it, and how hard it is to get out of it. I told my mother about what I was doing, and she and her friends helped me transition out. But I paid my debts."
At Cal, she had taken a course on women's empowerment that became "a calling in life" as an activist. These last five years, she has worked specifically with Southeast Asian girls.
"They're so under the radar," she explained. "Asian women are so exoticized; people are willing to pay more for them. So they get recruited really aggressively."
And these are first-generation American-born girls living in Oakland.
"In Alameda County, there is a huge, underground minors-involved-with-prostitution scene — and of all cultures," Sy said Tuesday. "It's an epidemic of poor girls, some sexually abused, being recruited into this economic job opportunity. I have one girl, 16, who started at 11."
Sy works mainly with girls who aren't engaged in sex work — to stop them beforehand. Her group trains them in such traditional cultural choices as cooking and gardening. They also learn about health issues, and the risks of hurrying into teenage sex.
So why doesn't Banteay Srei (Cambodian for "women's temple") attempt to convince teen prostitutes of an alternative lifestyle?
"We don't have these romanticized ideas that we're going to get people out of the (sex) trade," Sy said. "When they need to make that change, it needs to come from within themselves. We try to give them the resources."
Sy was married a month ago to Liam O'Donoghue, 28, a media coach. Her social work ends next June when she enters nursing school. Her interesting life continues to expand.
It's a good thing her family made it through that Cambodian jungle.
"There was an incredible journey that happened before I was born into the world," she said. "And I've had an incredible journey in my 26 years. I've learned hard lessons, but I've never regretted anything, and I'm excited to see what I do with the rest of my life."
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