Question: Could tell us about Happy Hearts Fund and why you decided to start it?
Nemcova: I started Happy Hearts Fund in July 2005. It has always been my goal in life to help special children with education. When the (Asian) tsunami happened, there were obviously a lot of negatives and almost 300,000 people passed away; but also, there were some positives. And personally, one was that I got more opportunities to help others.
When I recovered from my injuries, the first thing I did was I went with my sister and my friends back to Thailand. I wanted to see what I could do to be the most help to others. We went to schools and hospitals and shelters, and the biggest need was to help children. After experiencing that, and seeing the need, that was one reason.
And when I returned, many of my friends were asking where we should put the money to reach charity. I called a couple of big organizations and I was asking them where the money would go, and they couldn’t tell me even which country it would go to. I felt very responsible; if I suggest somebody support a foundation, then I should know where the money goes. This made me decide to establish Happy Hearts Fund, because of my goal in life and because of the need to help children, especially after what I had seen after the tsunami.
The third reason was because of the feeling of responsibility toward other peoples’ support. We started with only two people in the tsunami-affected areas. Now we are in 12 countries, on four continents, but still it’s only four people because we work with local NGOs on the ground. We are able to utilize their resources, and also it supports the people of each country.
Q: With all the charities helping the poor, what void does your charity fill that other charities don’t?
Nemcova: We focus on education. There is always the need for education because it gives you tools to better your life. It's also connecting children from different countries, continents and regions through IT. One of our core programs, which will start next year, is building schools with a computer lab in each school. We are now in 12 countries and next year we will connect these schools through this special program, which is called Kids Connection. Education is a tool to better everyone’s future.
Our new supplement is the sustainable part: Next to each school is a business, either in the form of a bakery or fair trade, and this business supports the school. The goal is in two or three years ... they take the ownership of it and it empowers the community. So the gap that we are filling is education, technology and sustainability.
Q: Tell me about your involvement with the film “Holly," and the Redlight Children Campaign?
Nemcova: My involvement is more with the movie itself, not very much with the charity. A few months ago, I met (writer-producer) Guy Jacobson and (actress-producer) Adi Ezroni of (an organization that focuses on child sexploitation). They asked me to be the host for “Holly,” and of course I said yes because it is something that I am very passionate about. I’m on the board of Somaly Mam Foundation, and they work together with Redlight Children.
Q: Has there been any change in the sex trade since "Holly" came out and through Somaly Mam work?
Nemcova: I know there has been less. I don’t know if it has been done because of Holly.
Holly generated much needed awareness to the issue globally as the film has been shown around the world. It propelled much international media coverage of this issue from the New York Times and major TV and media outlets in the U.S. to local outlets in a variety of countries around the world.
Specifically in Cambodia, for example, the government closed virtually all the brothels that we exposed in "Holly" and in our two documentaries. Pimps, traffickers and rapists that we exposed were arrested and jailed and many kids have been rescued. The government was also forced to create various laws regarding the issues and actually (is) enforcing them.
We consulted with other governments, states and organizations. This is an ongoing effort as to how to decrease the demand on both a local and global basis. There are laws that are enacted and enforced continuously.
Q: So you plan to get more involved?
Nemcova: Definitely. It is just something that I am beginning. I am not an expert on it but I feel that it had been a taboo subject for so long; it’s not fashionable, the whole thing is related to sex and because it’s related to sex with children I think it has just been so pushed away. It's never had a huge campaign to create awareness about what’s happening. It’s been pushed away from peoples’ consciousness and it is now slowly rising out. It definitely will come and I think it’s within my abilities to make a difference.
Q: Can you tell me a specific success story involving an individual whose life was turned around as a result of Happy Hearts or Redlight Children?
Nemcova: As we were shooting the films we worked with a number of children in Cambodia as they were rescued from the brothels. They were put in shelters and are making their long journey into being integrated into society. Redlight Children is working on two major levels. One is with shelters and victims on the ground in various countries helping them do their work. The other is to prevent the children from being victimized in the first place.
In order to make the biggest impact we should have less victims which can only be established by creating the global and local legal, enforcement and economic systems and infrastructures in which such crimes against humanity are addressed effectively.
Q: Like many of the victims you help, you went through a terrible ordeal in 2004 in which you were dependent on the help of strangers. How do you feel about your second chance and as a result does that help you to empathize with the victims that you work with?
Nemcova: It changed my life, definitely. From realizing that every moment is very precious and that the present is a gift. But also that it’s important to stay positive because each of us has to go through hardships at some point in our lives. So the best way to become stronger is to focus on the good things. With the hardships, we have to focus on the good things, and we have the choice. With each experience there are pluses and minuses. Even in the worst experience, there a 1% plus. And if we are able to focus on these pluses then we are able to become stronger and put more meaning into our lives.
Q: How does that help you relate to the victims?
Nemcova: I know what it is (like) to be down, and being able to relate to losing someone really close to them. I think that kind of goes vice versa. I think if they know what I went through, it allows them to open up more as well because then they feel like, ‘OK if it’s me or anyone else, when you experience something similar then you can understand.’
You never can understand fully because each experience of each person is very individual, but they can see, well, she went through something similar. They feel more comfortable to open up.
So I definitely think it has created a connection, a much more open connection between the victims and me, because there is more understanding.
Q: What are some of the biggest obstacles to ending these children’s suffering and how can readers help to remove those obstacles?
Nemcova: The biggest obstacles are first, to confront the problem, admit that it exists.
After people learn about the problem and realize it effects them and the children in their country/city/neighborhood, they can act. Go to the Redlightchildren.org Web site, learn more and just put your name, address and e-mail on the site. It will help us pressure the local governments in each country to implement the systems that will help prevent the children from being victimized in the first place.
Interviewed by Giacinta Pace, NBC News