September 23rd, 2021 - In Southeast Asia, climate change looks like a whiplash between extremes: rising heat, intense rainy seasons, and droughts. We’ve witnessed this in our own community of families and children we support. The intensity of the rainy season damaged their crops. Ginger became moldy and spoiled. Floods ruined the rice. Droughts caused water shortages, making farming–and their livelihood–untenable. (A drought in 2010 was so severe, the Mekong dried up to the point people could even walk across it in places. In Chiang Rai, people were unable to fish, thus cutting off a vital food source.) Landslides disrupted access to work and hospitals. And the extreme weather led to other stressors and added costs, like fixing weather-related damage to housing. Some people’s roofs even came entirely off their homes. Many families had to leave the community to search for other work. This is the story of how climate change can put people at risk of labor exploitation and human trafficking. Listen to learn more.
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