News from Hagar

Hagar exists to restore the lives of women and children who have survived severe abuse, slavery and sexual exploitation.

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Style For Life

Hagar is proud to be involved with some remarkable partners like the brilliant Melbourne hairdresser Joey Scandizzo and our friends at Ozdare/Eleven Australia. Such is their wonderful commitment to Hagar that they are leading our upcoming Style For Life Day on Sunday July 27, 2014 where 28 hair salons across Australia will volunteer their time and donate all proceeds from cuts, colors and blow dries to Hagar. Click here to find out more and share our facebook event with your friends.

Joey works with Melbourne’s A-Listers and gives demonstrations around the world so it was so special when he took time out from his schedule to take part in Hagar's Human Rights Tour in Phnom Penh in April 2014. Joey gave a three-hour masterclass (pictured above) with Hagar clients training to become hairdressers as part of Hagar's Economic Empowerment Program. Armed with his scissors, a Khmer translator and some donated hair supplies from Eleven Australia, Scandizzo wowed his audience. All participants are recovering from severe human rights abuses, sex trafficking, domestic slavery and other forms of forced labour.
Workshops like Joeys’ are brilliant, motivating and inspirational. The women were thrilled that someone like Joey would come and spend time with them. Thank you Joey for being a part of these women's recoveries.

Please join the fun of Style For Life Day and book your next cut, colour and blow dry, knowing that the proceeds of the day will really make a difference in the lives of women and children affected by severe human rights abuses. Book your appointment today!

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Thursday Aug 28, 2014

We are excited to invite you to our first Sydney cocktail party, proudly sponsored by Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation and Miss Chu (the queen of rice paper rolls). Click here for more details and to RSVP.

Run for Freedom

For many fun run participants, the day can be way more than a “fun run”, it can be an opportunity to give back. We invite runners and walkers around the country to put on their running shoes and join one of the existing teams for upcoming runs or create their own team to fundraise for Hagar.
City2Surf Sydney, 10 August 2014
City to Surf Perth, 31 August 2014
Melbourne Marathon, 12 Oct 2014
Find out about more races and how to fundraise at the Hagar Events page here.

Sponsor a Survivor

$50 per month will support a young child through Hagar's Catch-Up School, where they can 'catch-up' on their education and rejoin their community.
$100 per month provides specialist counselling to enable a survivor to overcome their past trauma

Join our Facebook Community

Aside from these bi-monthly e-newsletters, Hagar's major communication channel is through Facebook. Like our page to stay up to date with events, breaking news and stories from our survivors.

Toowoomba State of Origin Fundraiser

If you are in Toowoomba on Wednesday, 9 July 2014, come down to the HumeRidge Church of Christ in Kearneys Spring for an exciting night of Rugby League between the QLD Maroons and NSW Blues. Expect footy, food and fun, details here.

Hagar is constantly reviewing its performance so that we can ensure what we are doing for our women and children is successful. It is essential that we have clear performance measures in place. Good intent is simply not enough. Hagar has developed a theory of change model, that allows us to track and measure the success of individual clients through our case management system. We have metrics around local employment and expenses too. All this adds up to an enormously detailed spreadsheet of success that governments and other NGOs have applauded as best practice.

However it is when I reflect on moments like the one with a Hagar client in Phnom Penh earlier this year (above), that I get a sense of overwhelming joy and understanding that Hagar's approach to recovery really works. This photo was taken just after this beautiful young woman told me she had secured a full-time job. She is thrilled, and so she should be. She has transformed through her time at our women's shelter: receiving counselling, job training and placement. A full-time job is the next stage in her Hagar journey. Her smile tells me we are being successful.

I wanted to share this happy moment with you as a way of saying thank you for all you do for Hagar especially the recent EOFY appeal. Thank you for helping make smiles like these possible.

Warmly,
Kate Kennedy
CEO, Hagar Australia

End of Financial Year thanks from Hagar's catering team and Pharrell's smash hit "Happy"

Thank you to two matching donors and individuals who made our EOFY campaign a success. We thought we'd celebrate with a sneak peek inside Hagar Catering.

This "Happy" video was produced as a tribute to staff. The social enterprise was established in 1997 in response to a growing need for viable employment opportunities for women in the Phnom Penh shelter. Today, it is the largest catering company in Cambodia and serves over 10,000 meals a day.

Cambodia

158 follow up visits were conducted to reintegrated Hagar clients.
New Cambodian Country Director, Steve Penfold

Afghanistan

5 new education partnerships were formed to provide new opportunities for women
$175,000 grant received from Navitas Education Trust. Read more.

Vietnam

30 counselling sessions were conducted with clients.
Training session with AFP & other governments on trafficking trends.

Myanmar

Registration process progresses with Myanmese government.

Stamping out transnational crime in Singapore

A key initiative of the Singapore Government’s commitment to combat human trafficking, is to organise training programs to help strengthen the capabilities of frontline law enforcement officers, particularly in regards to victim identification and support. Hagar is privileged to have been appointed as training provider to provide a series of 24 Trafficking in Persons training sessions to 3300 Singapore Police Officers over the following months. Read more.

Hagar's invitation from the Attorney General

Hagar Australia CEO Kate Kennedy has been invited to be the guest speaker at the 2014 National Roundtable on Human Trafficking and Slavery on Monday, 14 July 2014. The roundtable is being convened by the Minister for Justice, the Hon Michael Keenan MP. Hagar Australia will brief the audience on innovations in survivor support and global best practice in systemic change by governments. It is a wonderful opportunity to present Hagar's aspirations to lead government and NGOs in the trafficking space.

The Hagar Australia board and staff would like to express their heart felt thanks to outgoing Chair, Bryce Houghton, who has served at the helm for the past two years. His contribution has been deeply appreciated.

We now welcome board appointed Dr Bill Hurditch to the role. Bill is Principal at Sydney-based business strategy and advocacy group, The Fifth Estate, Director of B4MD and Chair of Moore College. Learn more about our board.

Trafficking in the Thai Fishing Industry

After a six-month investigation, The Guardian has revealed that large numbers of men bought and sold like animals and held against their will on fishing boats off Thailand are integral to the production of prawns sold in leading supermarkets around the world. Survivors told The Guardian of horrific conditions, including 20-hour shifts, regular beatings, torture and execution-style killings. Read more here.

Daniel Mitchell, a year 9 student from Caulfield Grammar School in Melbourne decided (off his own back) to enter the Run Melbourne 10km event and fundraise for Hagar. He has raised more than $4,000! When asked why, he said: "I chose Hagar because I feel it has been very successful in changing the lives of kids my age, who have suffered huge disadvantage." Thanks again Daniel.

Kalyan's story
With her black sharp eyes, Kalyan is a friendly and energetic woman. It is hard to believe that she has had such a dark past. When she was 15 years old, she was trafficked for sexual exploitation by her mother. Now, aged 18, she is a beautiful young woman living in a group home project supported by Hagar.

Kalyan is grateful to Hagar for providing her with a range recovery services, in particular counselling. “When I came to Hagar, I learned a lot, the programs made me feel relieved and happy until I forgot all the painful memories,” she said. Hagar has changed her life completely.

Kalyan's priority now is to learn vital job skills as a hairdress then she would like to go back to live with her mother who has just been released from prison. She forgives her mother for what she did to her, believing the law has punished her enough. Hagar will work closely with Kalyan through the reunification process.

Read Kaylan's full story here.

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