CHAPTER 3: LOVE IN ACTION
Scaling up Prevention of Child Trafficking
“What if anti-trafficking didn’t need to be heroic? What if it just needed to be local, consistent, and quietly brave?”
Chiang Rai & Nan, Thailand
Dec 2021 - Dec 2024
The Spark
In the hills of northern Thailand, near the Myanmar border, The Freedom Story (TFS) has been quietly sowing the seeds of trafficking prevention for over a decade.
No dramatic rescues. No front-page stories. Just deep, steady care – community by community, child by child.
When we first met Lucy and the TFS team in 2021, it was the height of COVID. Many organizations were barely holding on but TFS stood out - not just for their resilience, but the emotional weight of their mission. They weren’t just preventing exploitation; they were creating opportunities and rebuilding dignity for vulnerable families.
Our first milestone together was setting up a relief grant. A modest, practical step - but it paved the way for something more.
“We saw how much The Freedom Story carried - emotionally, logistically, relationally. And we found ourselves wondering: How can we support them to scale their work, without stretching them further?” - Carol
The Courtship
Together, we leaned into a different idea of growth: what if scaling didn’t mean expanding - but sharing?
Over the next three years, we supported TFS to distill their model - education access, mentorship, family support, and community training - into something that other grassroots groups could adapt in their own ways and time.
By sharing the love, our work wasn’t a product; It was a process - full of vulnerability, learning, and unexpected joy.
The Love That Held It Together
Our combined efforts only worked because of trust. Trust in local leadership. Trust in the community. We had faith that others would carry it forward, and our belief bore fruit.
"When our early partners started recommending others to join the project, that’s when we knew. They weren’t just using the model for the sake of it. They believed in it." - Lucy
In 2024, a group of youth in Chiang Rai created a series of short films about online scamming. The videos were raw, funny, and startlingly honest - sparking conversations across schools, churches, and homes. The impact wasn’t just about awareness, it was about building a sense of ownership and inspiring the community to tackle the issues too.
“That moment reminded us that trust isn’t about control. It’s about letting go - so others can lead.” - Lucy
And they did.
PC: The Freedom Story
“It was the first time we tried to codify what we did intuitively, it was messy - but beautiful. We saw our work take root in new hands.” - Lucy McCray, CEO of The Freedom Story
The song that describes our relationship:
Rise Up by Andra Day
grassroots partners joined the movement
Local leaders trained - those closest to the risks, and the solutions
Children already supported through mentorship and scholarships - most in communities TFS had never directly worked in before.
The Lesson
TFS didn’t grow bigger. They grew wider - by letting others lead.
This chapter of our collaboration may have ended but the work continues in the next phase where we leverage on this growth to take the network beyond borders.
“We weren’t chasing a perfect model. We were creating space for communities to lead in their own way - and to remind us what prevention looks like when it’s rooted in care.” - Lucy
The ones who’ve grown with us
Our long-term partners and the journeys we went on together
