against all hope

{11.19.2010}

Do you remember the holocaust of WWII? I remember freaking out in history class, that it took us (america) so long to intervene and stop such corrupt twisted behavior. How can so many people be killed and it go unnoticed? You can't pretend that kinda stuff is not happening and look the other way.

For so long I also maintained the assumption that Nazi Germany and their concentration camps were a one time tragic event against one people group... such an ignorant thought. Holocausts and genocide still plague our world. Struggles against severe cultural prejudice still leave bodies in heaps and piles, or worse, surviving people are subject to prisoners of the most dehumanizing acts.

Genocide in Burma has left hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee to jungles and across borders to Thailand and other neighboring countries (some even to America with the help of World Vision, my parents even adopted a Burmese family).

Hope keeps these desperate people alive. Aid from struggling organizations and missions might sustain them a little longer. The people that are not eliminated are sold as commodities, many of them as factory and field workers, and many, many more into the sex industries of Thailand, Cambodia, and elsewhere.

I have such a hopeless feeling myself, but the relentless smiles and struggle for survival that these people possess draw me toward their redemption. Not to mention, what kind of people are we if we just look away?

Against all hope,

Abraham believed...

Deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do.

But on what God said he would do.

romans 4:8 (NIV & The Message).

I am going in January, I want to be a voice for the people that have none...

**these photos are not mine

to life

{8.7.2010}

I won't do it justice. I can't. Not even with the finest vocabulary in all of the land.

Neither will a camera, especially not my point and shoot. And since my feeling is that the government here would make it difficult to upload unscreened videos, I will do my best with words from the images that my starving eyes have consumed: (cue an Enya song for dramatic effect, go ahead, youtube that ish!)

Rice fields stretch for miles, gingerly plotted green grids dotting sanctuaries of water that perfectly reflect and mirror the blameless, rapturous clouds of felicity sauntering along tree lines bordering dignified ancient mountains. An occasional unassuming farmer is harvesting the crop donning the conical paddy hat while dirty kids ride rusty bicycles along the crude muddy road. But I don't care how dirty they look, there is still a polished air about them where no frown has ever crossed their determined faces. The looming mountains that form a bordered frame around this scene laso in all shades of green. There is no other color in the spectrum that contends for real estate here. Unadultered, the only adjective that belongs is 'lush.'

But this scenery is only a back drop. Weaving in and among the rice fields, we made our way over make shift bridges hovering on top of cat fish farms to a clearing of bamboo huts and cement buildings that comprise Child Life. Precious children of all ages call this place home, sans parents, only a handful of volunteers drift around like elementary school lunch room monitors.

And these children are precious, believe me, but they are also especially clever. These are the 'Artful Dodgers' of Asia. These are the street kids that hover on the border of Thailand and Burma (Myanmar) and beg. These are the kids that are notorious for their habit of pacing around, rarely without sniffing a plastic bag of glue attached to their faces. Its a lose-lost situation. They are starving, dirty, and wandering the streets begging, but you give them money, they either sniff glue with it or have to hustle it off to the older kids that run the network of gangs. It is beyond an unsafe life for them.

The glimmering light of hope is the safe haven tucked back deep in the rice fields where Child Life has harbored these children and given them survival and an education. But when you talk about 'invisible children', these kids are absolutely elusive. The biggest problem is they can't belong in their home country (usually Burma) because of the oppressive militant government and injustice of poverty, but Thailand doesn't want them either as they bring their misfortune and poverty into their country. So where do they belong?

I see it as one world. Erase the borders and see that we are all just trying to pursue life. Who will claim these prodigal footloose children?

**the photos used in this blog are not mine, I had to borrow until I can upload my own.

pineapple farms

I wish I had a wrecking ball and a bull dozer to tear down language barriers like Berlin Wall style. When you have so many questions and curiosities, sign language and pantomiming won't get you far. Or will it?

Today we flew from Bangkok to Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand. It was about an hour flight but the minute we landed I already could draw a deeper breath. Lush mountains and rice fields blanketed the scenery for miles. Low clouds hung mid way up the mountains exposing their faces in a higher atmosphere. A sight that makes you want to grab the closest vine and swing through water falls and tree canopies.

From the air port we met the director of the Mirror Foundation. Our transportation was a caged in bed of a truck. Imagine Jim Carey in Ace Ventura Pet Detective when he is driving in the jeep and throwing his head like he maneuvering rough terrain and picture us, minus the acting. Our rollercoaster ride on roads like I have only seen in Costa Rica led us up into hill country. One word: breath-taking, like a thief this landscape will rob you of oxygen and leave your eyes pleading for more gorgeousness to seep in.

Mirror works with the hill tribe people that have fled neighboring countries and crossed over to Thailand looking for work. I was able to record copious footage of these gracious people ( I tried to upload videos today but the internet is too slow so I will wait until wifi speeds up to share... sorry for all the blank posts and false alarms just sit tight!) There are about 100 volunteers that come for a month or two or up to a year to help educate these people and work with them to gain citizenship. These volunteers come from all over the world to give of their lives to helping assimilate these immigrants and refugees into a functioning and self sufficient life style.

The children were so pure, brimming over with smiles. I only wonder when that demeanor will begin to fade away with harsh reality. Here's the thing; we live in the same world, but we don't. We do physically, but not socially. In the world that these kids live in, not too long after they turn about age 10 they will be pressured to help earn money for the family. Boys are more encouraged to study than girls, so because their education is important, the girls go to work to support. These darlings are sent to the city where there are more jobs and when they are unable to find jobs because of a lack of citizenship, education, cultural knowledge, or vocational skills, there is little left than to be completely taken advantage of.

I immediately scooped up the first child I saw and just wanted to hold them. Of course my mind was reeling with uncertainties; what if these people just think we are a group of white people that pass through thinking we are better than them, wanting to take pictures, play with their cute little kids, have a little travel tour experience and leave. But the neat thing is that beyond all race, culture, style, religion, age or philosophy every person in our group completely meshed with this village. Our group has every flavor from Hindu, Jew, Christians, Agnostic, Eastern thought ages 17-40 and yet we all sense the overwhelming value of human life and so we are only able to exude a love beyond ourselves to these people. It is so natural and so after sharing a meal in their hut we all took polaroid pictures ( My prized photo is with a toothless man smoking his opium pipe and wearing an Indiana Jones hat) and then did a native tribal dance around the fire with all the women.

I don't know exactly what they were singing in their native language but I was gazing up at the stars and feeling the love of God pouring from the thick black night sky on these people confident that they have a hope and a future. Love is a toxic remedy that when shared and can change one life at a time. I would rather spend my energy while breathing on this earth loving these people and rescuing them from the traps of vulnerability then concern myself with monthly payments and a destined career path. After all, i dunno maybe its over used, but here is an easy acronym that when in doubt WWJD.

stay tuned for moreeee and vids!

refugee camp: typical summer experience?

Do you ever stop and wonder; how did I wake up in this life?

Today I walked through settlements of refugees and illegal immigrants that have fled their oppressive countries in order to survive and yet their "survival" is working in a factory for 21 hours straight with abusive managers watching their every move to make sure they are productive or worse sent out on fishing boats for 3-6 years at a time where they are tossed over as shark bait if they are weak or less useful.

We met with the Labor Rights Promotion Network; essentially a group of people that advocate for the rights of immigrant workers that cross the boarders into Thailand. Before you sigh and click to another blog post with more interesting pictures or a youtube video that will make you laugh in 20 seconds or less, I dare you to be uncomfortable for a second.

I don't know what the solution is. There is no easy out. But there are people in our world that are forced to run to another borderline because military coups have over thrown their country's government countless times and set up corrupt regimes that make life torturous for the citizens just trying to get by. Thailand is packed with desperate people in these circumstances. 70% of the immigrants in Thailand are from Burma (Myanmar). Typically they are brought over by a broker that will charge them about $400 USD per person and then sell them to a factory or boat owner that will work these people to death. Kids as young as 7 are slaving away next to their parents.

Where are the police or boarder control you ask? Oh they perform raids on the factories here and there but their only job is to remove the people again and because kids are under age, they are often separated from their parents and thrown right back over on the other side in danger of being trafficked again.

Where do we even start to help? These people don't have a home and just because they are vulnerable and desperate people delight in making money off of their exploitation.

My only take away of you taking time to absorb this information might just be that you understand when you think your life is hard, I guarantee you wouldn't complain to these people.

I will try to post my videos and pictures of these beautiful people later. rushin around.. more later.

<3 kb

red light exposure

When someone says "Red Light District" what immediately comes to mind?

Maybe its just me, but that phrase just drudges up uneasy feelings corruption, malfeasance and depravity. Unfortunately in downtown Bangkok, there is a thriving crime syndicate of trafficking and prostitution that has festered and flourished into what is known as the "Disney World" of the sex industry falling within this said block. You know what the kicker is? Prostitution is illegal in Thailand, but do you think the cops will do anything if a girl is getting raped and beaten in this locality? According to the women behind the organization "Night Life," local law enforcement would be quicker to give you a ticket for not wearing a helmet on a tuk-tuk (taxi bike).

Today I was thrilled to get to hang out with some exceptionally bold women. Specifically Anne, Sondra, and Rebecca shared their mission of rescuing women from the chains of sexual exploitation through the micro-finance business of selling jewelry.

A few nights a week these women head down to neon lit streets and occupy the bars sipping on a coke waiting for girls to take a break from dancing. They say the girls dance for 4 songs and then get a break for 4 songs. How much can you fit in a 4 song span? Apparently a lot as the organization is currently employing over 80 girls.

Sondra told stories of a little boy they rescued found wearing a dress who had been raped and was suffering from severe anorexia. Another night a 60 year old American man sat next to her and as she told him about what she was doing there he was reduced to tears declaring that she had ruined his night. There are also stories of redemption and Buddhist girls accepting Christ.

Tourism is the #1 contributor to the perpetuation of the sex industry here in Thailand. Cambodia is the #1 country of pedophiles in the world. And the greatest majority of the "Johns" or customers come from America and Eastern Europe. The women shared how God has broken their hearts not only for these abused women but also for the men are the source of the demand.

Today was powerful and inspiring, but also incredibly daunting. The women of Night Life rest on the truth that the glory of redemption rests in changing one life at a time.

I took some pictures of the beautiful faces of the now rescued girls but for their privacy and protection I will not post them on this public site.

More to come soon {stay tuned}

chasing the sunset

Up until this day of my life I have completely underestimated jet lag's potential for utter disarray. Somewhere somehow I left West Palm Beach on Tuesday morning and after chasing altitudes of horizon status I landed in Bangkok on Wednesday night. Its a 13 hour time difference and the longitudinal meridians of time could not be more disorienting. This befuddlement aside. I am currently roaming the streets of Bangkok, well not currently, currently I am hiding out in a little cafe with some vagrant wayward euros and a random raggedy old man. After a flashdance bull ride with a tipsy cab driver I made it from the airport to my desitination. There was a laminated list of rules to the room I was staying in, apparently typed up in Clarisworks 3.0 with the boarder of these ~ all around the whole sheet. Fancy I know. Well I was comforted to know that this establishment was one of morals sine rule #1 was: "Do not bring prostitutes up into room."

I am still trying to prioritize my goals for this sojourn. I live in America, so what can I possibly glean from this experience, literally on the other side of this world? Well after reading a handful of research artlicles and dissertations on the best practices of dissipating Human Trafficking in Thailand I am still not sure. Other than that I hope to soak up everything I possibly can to increase my knowledge and resume on fighting this fight while encouraging and loving on the selfless rescues and people that have dedicated their lives to battling this abomination here in Asia.

I love the independence air of adventure, but I am getting anxious to meet up with my team, also I think I am sitting in some kind of invisible bug nest because something itchy is waging war on my right leg. so I'm out for now.

Thats all for Day#1 in Bangkok.

bang bang

<3 kb

you are my microphone

{6.3.2010}

I might over-examine things. Actually I do. Not in a bad way, more in a soaking wet with curiosity kind of way. For instance, I know we have this thing called culture. Its just how we do things. But how do we simply walk into it and adapt to its waters and never question it?

So, I'm talking to my friend Twohill yesterday and we were laughing at how people will dish out millions of dollars for little animals (we love animals too bear with me haters). Like there was an animal rescue org in CA that had this huge campaign to nurture some little seal. They raised millions of dollars to concoct the creature a specific comfortable aquatic sanctuary, nurse it and harbor it. After some time, the organization sponsored an enormous local event where they were going to launch this million dollar stock investment back into the wild. Animal obsessive enthusiasts came from all over to cheer this little blubber nugget on its way out into the vast primeval oceanic jungle. Not five minutes after the beastie gyrated its ways through the Pacific layers, a monstrous killer whale swooped in outta no where and intercepted the seal into its destined killer jaw cage. All of the hard earned "American Dream" dollars lobbied for the support of this animal chunk were swallowed into oblivion without so much as a drop of ketchup.

All that extensive tale to question, what is wrongggg with people in our culture that we are so quick to pump extra cash into the unnecessary care of wild animals while at the same time there are people that are desperately fighting to barely survive life in this world.

We feel so accomplished when we support a child by donating a few bucks a month or tossing some change in the orphan bucket on our way through the grocery line, but how is our culture NOT in a state of EMERGENCY based on the catastrophic imbalance of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness (fahget about prosperity!). Our culture is so egocentric, how do we even sleep at night on our perfect tempurpedic mattresses (where a chick can jump up and down on it and the dude's glass of wine doesn't spill) when there are places in the world where 30 kids sleep on a floor in a one bedroom house with no mother to tuck them in or no promise of breakfast in the morning and the constant fear of being trafficked because their life has little to no value. WHAT kind of a culture are we living in? Who do we think we are?

I know that people are drowning in our culture. I know that people are numb. I know that my emotion might not jump off this screen into your heart or soul. I know that these paragraphs might even be too long to even hold your short attention span. But if nothing else, please examine our culture... your reality, and expand your perspective outside your excessive comfort and feel a little less comfortable knowing that there are cycles of unnecessary evil in the world and you can do something to end their perpetuation.