Titans in Action: Chuc An ‘Ann’ Tran ’21 & Yusi ‘Christine’ Mo ’21
by Bill Wells Director of Student Promotion
Chuc An ‘Ann’ Tran ’21 and Yusi ‘Christine’ Mo ’21 create an international human trafficking prevention project
• Yusi “Christine” Mo ’21
• Chuc An “Ann” Tran ’21
DreamGirls Vietnam Editor’s note: Academy World interviewed Chuc An “Ann” Tran ’21 and Yusi “Christine” Mo ’21 about a human trafficking prevention project. Two years ago, Chuc An “Ann” Tran ’21 and Yusi “Christine” Mo ’21 learned of an extensive human trafficking crisis pervading their home nations, Vietnam and China. Living under destitute and patriarchal conditions, young women in Sapa, a town in the Vietnamese highlands and a major trafficking hotspot, have faced greater dangers of trafficking due to social media proliferation. Even though COVID-19 has reduced trafficking rates in Sapa, NonGovernmental Organizations have estimated that one girl is kidnapped every 25 days. This knowledge inspired Ann and Christine to embark upon a personal trafficking prevention project, where interviews and collaboration with ETHOS Humanitarian Association, an anti-trafficking NGO, helped them produce a digital graphic novel titled “No Way Home,” based on the experiences of a survivor. Their graphic novel has since been distributed through ETHOS’ platform and connections. Since their graphic novel’s completion in October, Ann and Christine have expanded the scope of their student-led advocacy project, establishing and naming it DreamGirls Vietnam to reframe their mission around empowering and educating young, ethnic minority women in Vietnam.
32
AC ADEMY WORLD SPRING 2021
Q: What inspired you to begin DreamGirls? Christine: We began our project two summers ago when I flew to Vietnam for two weeks. Here, we reached out to multiple anti-trafficking and women’s rights NGOs. Talking with social workers, we learned that social media proliferation has endangered girls significantly as it provides a medium for traffickers to easily manipulate girls. As teenagers, we benefit from social media every day, so hearing that such a mindless aspect of our lives can endanger girls our age was shocking. We knew that our goal was to aid prevention efforts as that was within our capabilities, given that we are only high school students and that we go to school thousands of miles away. Hence, we decided to write a digital graphic novel to raise awareness of social media’s role in trafficking. This way, our story would be accessible and engaging to those most vulnerable.
