Teen inspired by Vital Voices

Wednesday, September 22, 2010
By Bonnie Adler
Minuteman News Center (Connecticut, USA)

Last year was a busy one for Westport teen Alexis Teixeira. She became involved with a non-governmental organization known as Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international non-profit organization that works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women’s political participation, and human rights. The organization is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and has strong representation in Connecticut.

Alexis became involved with the organization after her mother, Lisa Teixeira, went to a Connecticut Council Vital Voices Global Partnership event and heard a speaker from Kenya, Kakenya Ntiaya, who moved and inspired her to do more. Ntiaya told the group that she was the first person from her small village in Africa to be educated and leave her village and go to the United States. She promised herself and her community that she would use her education to help others in her village, and did just that. Ntiaya returned to Kenya and established a boarding school for girls, and in her wake left many impressed with her courage and leadership and unswerving dedication to the task at hand.

Lisa Teixeira introduced her daughter Alexis to Ntiaya, and from that meeting, Alexis became inspired as well. She started a Teen Vital Voices club at Staples High School, and that club went on to raise enough money to send four girls to boarding school in Kenya. They are also learning about the issues championed by the national organization, such as empowering women, teaching leadership and economic skills and one of their most challenging tasks at hand, to confront and eliminate sex trafficking.

This year, the Staples High School Teen Vital Voices club will host Mu Sochua, a Cambodian Parliamentarian who has dedicated her life to empowering women and ending the horrors of child trafficking. She will be coming to Connecticut for several appearances and a film presentation and as part of her visit will spend a day at Staples High School giving presentations to Social Studies students in a series of day long events.

A nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, Mu Sochua was born in Cambodia. In 1972, at the age of 18, Mu Sochua’s parents put her on a flight out of war-torn Cambodia to protect her from the genocide sweeping the country. That was the last time she saw her parents. Three years later they were killed by the Khmer Rouge. She completed her education in France and the United States where she completed her education at Berkeley and returned to her country in 1991 after 18 years in exile, six of them working with refugees along the Cambodian border.

In 1998 she was appointed the first female Minister for Women’s Affairs, a position from which she battled against child abuse, violence against women, the exploitation of female workers and human trafficking. A member of Parliament since 2008, she has become a leading voice of the opposition against a government which she calls a corrupt dictatorship. She was recently threatened with imprisonment for bringing a lawsuit for defamation against the Prime Minister in Cambodia. She continues to work, often at grave personal risk, for equal rights, free speech, government transparency and a fair judicial process.

During her stay in Connecticut, on November 13, the film, “Redlight” will be shown in Westport at the Seabury Center.

“Redlight” is a powerful documentary, directed by Guy Jacobson, exposing the global issue of human trafficking. The film focuses on the personal stories of the victims of child sexploitation and two remarkable advoacates for change, human rights activist Mu Sochua and another grass roots advocate Somaly Mam. Both have since been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and have won other human rights awards around the world.

Alexis said she hopes to spread the word about Mu Sochua to students at Staples and in the larger community. She is also very proud of the work the club is doing. They have hosted several female leaders who are sharing their experiences with the students in the hopes of teaching them what it takes to become a leader and to overcome obstacles.

For more information about the work of Mu Sochua the website is www.vitalvoices.org/gin-profiles/mu-sochua-voices-change. For more information about the film, the website is www.redlightthemovie.com.

The Connecticut Council of Vital Voices is setting up a host committee for the event honoring Mu Sochua. For more information, contact Roberta Cooper at robertacooper@optonline.net.