On a street in Thailand, a little girl named Lilly called out, “5-baht, 5-baht,” begging for change she would never be allowed to keep. Following her home, the person who would go on to found Life Impact International discovered that Lilly had just been sold, and the traffickers were already on their way to collect her. For $24 USD, Lilly’s life was spared. The traffickers came for her, but they were too late.
That one rescue became a calling. For more than two decades, Life Impact International, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has fought to end child exploitation in some of the hardest places in the world: Thailand, Myanmar and the conflict zones between them, and now Brazil. Since 2010, Life Impact International has rescued and cared for hundreds upon hundreds of children in Thailand alone, and today its work reaches thousands more.