Today we had our third session with the girls from AFESIP. At the end of our last session, they asked us if they could prepare their own theatre pieces to present to us today. Julie and I were looking forward to seeing what they had in store for us.

We began the session by warming them up with the usual stretching and dancing, followed by a series of games designed to make the group feel more comfortable with each other and us. After everyone was loosened up and smiling, we sat down to watch their pieces. The girls had separated themselves into two groups with an original piece each.

The first group did a piece about human trafficking.

I could not understand the words, but I understood every action. In the first scene, two girls go into a meeting, it seems formal, perhaps a job interview? The people who received them were very welcoming, they smiled and greeted them and offered them seats. In the next scene, these same people had locked the two girls into separate rooms, and were beating them and yelling at them. The play progressed with a lot of dialogue that I did not understand until two new actors entered the scene, talked to the captors, and proceeded to the rooms where the girls were kept. Here they made gestures telling them to “hush”, and proceeded to sneak the girls out of their hell.

This was the re-enactment of their lives, of their luck.

These girls are some of the very few who have been saved, but not many share in their fortune. Watching them smile and laugh and play brings as much joy to my heart as it does pain, because it reminds me of the many who are still out there and suffering. I would like to give a big kudos to the men who make it their business to go out and save these girls, often posing as clients to do so. This is a dangerous job, since some girls are scared to leave and may require one or two additional visits to be convinced, leaving these men vulnerable to exposure.

At the end of the play, all the girls were laughing and smiling as the captors were arrested and brought to jail.

The psychologist who follows us through all of our sessions told us that it is a very good sign that the girls were able to re-enact scenes from their lives and laugh. It is a testament to their strength and resilience as well as to the excellent job done by AFESIP in helping these girls feel safe and put the past behind them. Julie had the excellent idea that we should take this piece and work on it in all of our future sessions. During our last session with the girls, they will present the play to the entire staff of MSR and AFESIP.

The second group did a mime, (for my benefit, I’m sure). It began with one girl placed centre stage, straight and silent, with her hair loose and messy. Others slowly started entering the scene and moved about her. They fixed her hair, placed her body, made her smile, fixed her clothes, and applied whitening powder to her face.* In the end, all the girls smiled and clapped at the result of their “perfect woman”, who smiled vacantly and did not move as they stood around and posed for pictures with her.

Both plays were meaningful. I encourage you to reflect upon them, and on who and where they come from.

*Laotian people are very dark-skinned, and white skin is seen as a symbol of wealth. As a result, whitening creams and powders are sold everywhere with advertisements starring photo-shopped Asian women whose skin is whiter than a piece of bleached paper.