woman: the following program isis an original productioion of linktv. narrator: next up, the true story of a girl who justst wants to go to s school and d has to change the minind of her entiree villllage to do o it. an awardrd-winning a animation d other short films from linktv's "viewchange" film contest. man: "viewchange" is about peoplele making real progress and tackling the world's toughest issues. can a story change the world? see for yourself in "viewchange, crosossing the gender r gap." narrator: compared with men, the lives of women are so often hidden behind the walls of tradition, poverty, and isolation. compared with men, the stories of women so often just aren't told.

but the documentaries you're about to see a are different. they put women in front of the lens and behind it, and through photography, film, and even ananimation, t they show u us wn stepping out from behind those walls, s surviving and even thriving in some of the poorest countries in the world. take a look across the global gender gap and see the grand prize winner of the "viewchange" film contest. srey: my name is srey neth. i am cambodian. i am a victim of sex trafficking. translator: i do not know my father. my brother, he gambled and left home. we were poor and so my mother sold me to a neighbor, a pimp. i was 14.

i lived in a place called the building, where i served drinks for the first week. i didn't know. i thought i had a job to help my family, but the other girls told me things. later, the pimp sold my virginity for $300. srey: i lost my choice. i lost m my voice. i lost myself. translator: i was worth nothing to them but money. some nights, i was sent out with one or two customers. some nights, he kept me in, where i saw 10, 20 customers. when i didn't want to have sex,

they beat me. sometimes they electrocuted me. i could have ran, but i was afraid, and my mother had made a contract. i am a good daughter. i do not want to hurt my mother. then there was a man, a foreigner. he took me in his car to the forest. he was drunk, and he did things to me that hurt badly. then one night i was taken to a hotel to see another customer, but it was the police and a nongovernment organization. i was very afraid. i thought they will make me work more, but instead, they took me to a shelter. i was safe. i could not leave, but no one could hurt me there. srey: and then i f found out i have hiv.

one of the men, he give it to me. translator: for many, especially in cambodia, hiv means death. but for me, i am lucky. at the center, i have a second father and a second mother. james, he made sure i have healthcare and anti-retroviral drugs. he gave me a chance at life. siah held my hand and showed me how to live again. she took me to the pagoda and told me the stories of buddha. she told me the stories of the titime of pol pot and the khmer rouge, when she worked the rice fields for 18 hours every day and many died. she e showed me how to forgive and how to love, f first myself anand then others.

i live with other girls who have stories just like me. i know the other girls are afraid. they are angry. i know they feel that there is only one thing left for them, and i know late at night, they hurt just like i did. but like tci gave to me, so will i give back to them. i want to help the others, to protect them from the pimps and the brothels. srsrey: i am srey neth. i am a survivor. it has been five years, but t i have foundnd my home. i hahave found my voice and i am fininding myself. [woman singing in foreign language]

rangina hamidi: trying to do business in a war zone brings challenges beyond anybody's imagination. things like basic infrastructure, electricity, transportation. we have a country and a government that is still not a working government, so trying to do business in this region is probably one of the hardest things to imagine. but yet, nothing's impossible, so everything can go forward.

man: rangina hamidi was born in kandahar, but when the soviets invaded afghanistan, her family fled the country, eventually landing in northern virginia, where she grew up and was educated. after the events of 9/11/2001, she returned to afghanistan with a mission to find ways to economically empower the women of her native country. she is the founder of kandahar treasure, an enterprise employing over 450 women who embroider garments and housewares for the domestic and international market. rangina: i came here as a nonprofit worker, and the bureaucracies, the politics, the lack of a real vision forward really disappointed me. and so i thought that the alternative to this mess was business, because business offered sustainability and business gives an opportunity for people to rebuild their own lives with their own hands. i saw my country in the past 30 years of war, we are constantly waiting to be spoonfed by the world. so my answer to this dissatisfaction was start

a business that i can own, but with a sustainable model, i know that in the future we can stand on our own two feet and not depend on the world to provide for us. i prefer business over charity because doing business gives me integrity. kandahar treasure respects that women in kandahar live in a very strict, traditional, conservative society. almost all of the women that we work with in our business don't have the permission to leave their home to work. we decided that we would go to their homes rather than ask them to come to a production site. the women embroider. it's a very old embroidery skill that women in kandahar are specifically known throughout the country. before kandahar treasure, this embroidery never really was introduced to the world as a possible product for market. so by recognizing this incredible fine skill that the women had, kandahar treasure used the opportunity to provide a working opportunity for the women at home. kandahar treasure empowers women. when a woman earns,

it gives her power beyond our understanding and imagination. women are always a liability here. their food, their clothing, their health, every aspect of their life has to be taken care of by a man figure in the household. and so now, with women having the ability to earn money, at home even, they now have an opportunity to become an asset to the family. indirectly, we're also changing the social dynamics of the society, and that is an important step to changing women's social reality in the country that we work. one cultural benefit to women in kandahar is that it is beneath the man to ask for monetary assistance from a woman. a man will not ask a woman for money because it will bring down his manhood. women, by the mere fact that they now have money in their hand, are making decisions. they're now earning side-by-side with their men, and that in itself improves self-esteem, because she now knows that she's worth something. and the mothers are now able to negotiate with the father, who wants to marry the girls off

at an early age. the mother basically is buying time for her daughters to not get married early because she's now bringing income, and the father agrees. so this is one very important example of how the social, as well as the economical change is happening. we have over 450 women who are working with kandahar treasure. an average afghan family consists of about seven to eight people. if you do the math, i would say that at least 3,000 to 4,000 people are benefiting from kandahar treasure. i would never have considered these women as victims, because they're changing not only their lives, but their societies and the future of their children. these women are not victims. as a woman, as an afghan woman, i have come to believe that the future of afghanistan depends on its women. i cannot count on the men who have murdered, who have killed, who have destroyed to rebuild my country. women, on the other hand, because we have not been involved in the destruction, i think we're a natural

alternative to giving afghanistan a new image, a new face, and a new future. i would like the world to know that women as stakeholders of their country and their society and their families are better advocates for peace and stability in their nation. by being involved in businesses that have integrity, i know and i believe that women can change the future of afghanistan. narrator: don't go away. when we return, give a girl a bibicycle and d she gets an education. and see the grand prize winnnner ofof theviewewchge" " film cocontest. man: like what you saw? then visit viewchange.org, linktv's brand-new multimedia website. watch over 200 storieses about new solutions to the developing world's biggesest challenges, geget involved witith the e iss, share the storieies withriends, and help chahange the world.

all at viewchange.org. [bharati]

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[bhatiti's momoth] [bhatiti]

narrator: and now, the grand prize winner of the "viewchange" film contest, aaron kisner's "finalal voices: k kakenya." [cldld sinng]] kakea a ntai: i i waengagege toe e marrd whwhen was fiveeaears o. my parents aananged . in mcocommuny, w whea girlrl o old eugh h toalk, s s's tataughtow t to eep ththhouse, w toto clect w wer from the ver,r, a how t tcook foththe faly.. a girl is traid d to bomee

a mother a a a boys trtraid to become a rrrrior. my mother'lilife w verery rd. i ew that wawanted something fffferen ifify chores were done, i could go to school. every child, it doesn't maer wherere ey arereevery child s a dream. i drdrmed of becoming a teache becaususteachers looked nice. teachehe didn't have to work ononhe farm. when a girl becomes 12r r 13 yeararold, there is a ceremony are told that this cerenyny wiwillake yoyoa woman, and once yoy're a woman, you can tt rried. 're not supposed toryry. i knew that if i were married, i i uld no longer go to scho.. i wod not t come a teacher. soso went toy father i askekehim not to force me totoe married. i agreed to go throu e ceremony if he promise to delay my marriage, ifee lowewed to fini school.

hegreed d d we made a deal. when i finished high sool, i had m make otheher al. myatather s sisickso according to o c custo allll the men hiagage we nowow my fatrsrs. the isis aradititi among my peop thahat meone e o comes toto youeforore e sunrnre will ing g go news,s,nd you must nonot te thehem . so ient t tohem ononby one. whenllll thelderers reed,, ththe whe viville camemeogether and mbininedheir m mey. fofor thfirsrst me eveve girlrl fm our r llage ululd goo cocolle. daday i fininisng my y d. i diget marrd, but iwas a man thai chose. my dreamf f becong a a tcher has owown. i have bui t the fst p priry hohool f girirlsn my v vlage, a placwhere rls can beree, place whe they c dream, place th lets themnow

thatheheir dres are ssible. i am kenya ntaa. ththiss mymy val voioi. now raise ururs. [childresinging] man: like what you saw? then visit viewchange.org, linktv's brand-new multimedia website. watch over 200 stories a about new solutions to the developing world's bibiggest challenges, get involved with the issues, share the stories with f friend, and help changnge the world. all at viewchange.org.