About
Every Girl Safe, Supported, and Able to Thrive
OTV is a Christian organisation working to protect girls from exploitation and abuse.
We work with girls, families and villages across Thailand and the Mekong region to prevent exploitation and create pathways out of poverty.
Our work is practical. We support girls to stay in school, help families access essential resources, develop skills and confidence, and create opportunities for safer, more secure futures.
We believe lasting change takes time. It requires trust, consistency and people who are prepared to keep showing up.
We are a small organisation, working with limited resources in places where the needs are often great. We cannot solve every problem or help everyone. But we can make a difference, one girl, one family and one community at a time.
That is what One Thousand Villages exists to do.
Why the Mekong?
The Mekong region is home to millions of people facing poverty, inequality and limited opportunities. In some areas, conflict and displacement make life even more difficult, leaving girls and families particularly vulnerable.
This is where OTV works — alongside girls, families and villages to prevent exploitation, support safer futures and create pathways out of poverty.
Vision
Girls in the Mekong region: safe, supported and thriving.
Mission
OTV works with girls, families and communities across the Mekong to prevent exploitation and create pathways out of poverty.
How we work
Prevention and Protection
We work to reduce girls’ vulnerability to exploitation and abuse before harm occurs, addressing the circumstances that can put them at risk.
Families and Communities
We work alongside families, schools, churches and village leaders, respecting local knowledge, strengthening relationships and responding to the needs of each community.
Practical Support and Opportunity
We help girls stay in school, support families with essential needs, and create opportunities to develop skills, confidence and greater independence.
Long-Term Relationships
We build trust through consistent presence and long-term commitment. We don’t believe lasting change comes from quick fixes. It comes from doing the work, staying involved and walking alongside people over time.
Our Values
How it all began
Justin grew up on the Gold Coast, where life revolved around surfing, football, and time with mates. He speaks with deep love and appreciation for his parents, who shaped his values of hard work, kindness, and responsibility toward others.
Justin completed a trade as a greenkeeper and later studied theology and psychology. Following Jesus has shaped Justin’s life and work. As a pastor, he spent many years walking alongside people experiencing homelessness and children who had lived through trauma and abuse. Thirty years ago, a trip to Thailand with World Vision exposed him to deep poverty and the reality faced by many girls at risk of exploitation. It changed the direction of his life.
Justin began building relationships with organisations including World Vision and Tearfund Australia, as well as schools, churches, NGOs, and local partners across Australia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia. He established OTV in Australia and a foundation in Thailand, developing community-based prevention programs designed to reduce girls’ vulnerability to exploitation and create pathways out of poverty.
Building OTV has been hard. There have been financial pressures, difficult environments, and ongoing challenges on the ground. It has been exhausting at times. It has taken years of persistence. But the focus has remained the same: stay in communities, build trust, strengthen families and create practical pathways that give girls greater safety and opportunity.
Today, OTV works alongside girls, families, community leaders, churches, schools, and local groups across Thailand and the Mekong region. The work is built on long-term relationships and sustained presence — preventing exploitation and creating pathways out of poverty.
“I didn’t choose this work. I know it’s my calling, and I’m grateful for that. But it hasn’t been easy. At times it’s been exhausting. Still, as we look ahead, I’m hopeful. We’ve learned so much along the way, and now we can use that to help even more children and families,” Justin says.
Built Over Time — No Quick Fixes
OTV works through sustained presence, trusted relationships and structured prevention programs in real communities.
We address immediate needs while creating opportunities for change that can last. It’s not always easy, and progress doesn’t happen overnight. But we believe every girl deserves the chance to grow up safe, supported and able to shape her own future.
One girl. One family. One community at a time.
Our Team
Governance
Staff
