Hope Cafe
Ca Phe Hy Vong (Hope Cafe) is a coffee shop located in the Binh Duong province, north of Ho Chi Minh city, in Vietnam. Besides being a place that is determined to become a daily necessity for coffee lovers, it is location where one can momentarily escape the daily stresses of life. Hope Cafe will be a destination where locals can come together and engage in workshops, lectures, music, movies, arts and culture.
The identifier for Hope Cafe is "More coffee - more Hope." Not only is Hope Cafe a friendly environment to socialize and learn, but it is a coffee shop with a purpose. As a non-profit business, proceeds will provide financial assistance for a local recovery home, called Home of Hope, established to help survivors of human trafficking. Both Hope Cafe and Home of Hope are projects of Hope Unending, a US-based NGO fighting against human trafficking and abuse of vulnerable populations.
Problem to be addressed
Human trafficking deeply impacts women, children, and their families, in Vietnam. While Vietnam has experienced an economic boom within the last few years, the poor still live under dire circumstances. The plight of disadvantaged children and females, in particular, is precarious. Without a proper education, the future for such marginalized individuals is grim. This vulnerable population is often poorly trained, they have few ways of earning a living, and many have fallen prey to job offers in foreign countries as a way of securing the survival of their families.
Thousands of females are impacted when they are trafficked, at times by people they know and trust, both to other parts of the country or into neighbouring nations such as Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and China. Vietnam is a primary supplier for commercial sexual exploitation, as well as forced labor. Some who start out as laborers also wind up as sex slaves. Fraudulent or misrepresented marriages are another method by which Vietnamese women are exploited. Vietnam is a nation needing assistance, and the females victimized from all directions are worthy of recognition and investment towards restoring a healthy lifestyle.
Proposed solution
To understand the idea behind the Hope Cafe, the vision and mission of Home of Hope (HoH) is explained. Home of Hope is a safe house for survivors of human trafficking, located in Binh Duong province, Vietnam. The home is established to provide a place of refuge and restoration for sexually trafficked women. However dire their situations, we believe we can help these women take control of their lives. We also believe if given the right tools and guidance, each woman can have renewed self-esteem, viable life skills, and be successfully reintegrated into society. We desire to re-establish individual self-worth for these women and guide them in the hope for a better future.
An important element of the overall structure for the Home of Hope is ‘Hope Cafe’ This social enterprise business is set up to support the women in their journey to recovery and restoration. The many benefits of the Hope Cafe include:
- The time spent in the business will be therapeutic for the women - self-worth and the feeling of dignity will grow.
- The ladies will be taught hospitality, financial management skills, and how to deal with the public through on-the-job training.
- The Hope Cafe is large and has the potential to become a skills training centre for the residents of the Home of Hope.
- With prime visibility, the Hope Cafe can be an event location to raise awareness on the issues of Human Trafficking.
- Jams and other items hand made by the residents can be sold on location to assist in the self-sustaining efforts of the Home of Hope.
- With an already-established and expected growing clientele, the Hope Cafe has the capacity to financially support the on-going expenses of the Home of Hope.
Toai (coffee shop manager), Kim (business consultant) and Marie (Director of Hope Unending) as the start-up team of Hope Cafe.
Project beneficiaries
Home of Hope and consequently the Hope Cafe will accept Vietnamese women, who are survivors of Human Trafficking, from all backgrounds (16+ years). Our commitment is to help them recognize their individuality. We further purpose to help them restructure their lives and without shame become functioning members of society. At the Home of Hope a program will be offered for a one year period, with planned levels of increased independence as the women progress in their recovery. The Hope Cafe is part of this process.
The Hope Cafe will be used for training purposes. First of all it provides an area where the women can receive vocational training. Secondly, through spending a few hours per week working in the coffee shop, the women will learn financial management and hospitality skills. They will be coached by the business manager and qualified volunteers. As mentioned before, by working in the coffee shop the women’s dignity and self-worth can grow, since they will receive a small salary. This will be their first steps of reintegration into society.
Marie Watson (Director Hope Unending) and Oanh Nguyen (House Manager Home of Hope)
Expected developmental impact
The main goal is to help and support the women to reach the point of social reintegration. Throughout their stay in the Home of Hope and the traineeship at the Hope Cafe, the women will be evaluated by the staff and mental health care professionals in order to equip and promote levels of progressive independence. Attention will be given to help them overcome a victim mentality, improve their self-confidence, and heighten their self-esteem. Although these are soft-skills which are hard to measure, the program is designed for empowerment and individual progress. Moreover, by setting up this business, the Hope Cafe can be used as a platform to create awareness on the issue of Human Trafficking in Vietnam.
- recovery and reintegration for the girls.
- financial assistance for the Home of Hope.
- creating awareness in the community.
Are you willing to support us in our journey towards these goals?
Here is how you can help!
You can support us by sharing our story to your own network, for example by liking and sharing our Hope Unending facebook page and in this way create more awareness. Another direct way to help Hope Cafe is donating an X amount - whatever you have on your heart - so that by the end of January 2016 we will have sufficient funds to renovate the coffee shop and start the programs. Please find our budget in the next chapter 'Use of Funds'. Via our PayPal account you can safely transfer. We want to thank you for your willingness and your heart to bring hope in the lives of those in need!
For more information send an email to [email protected] or visit:
www.hopeunending.org
www.facebook.com/hopeunending