Bye SOLD Team 1, Hello BKK

Tuesday was goodbye day. We sent off Aaron, Anthony, John, Heather, and Alex. It didn't feel like we had spent 3 weeks together although we definitely feel like we have experienced a lot as a group- sharing highs and lows, working to better understand the aspects of child prostitution, abuse, prevention, and all the layers that go along with this issue. We are excited to see what the next step is for everyone as we head back to the states and after experiencing what we have, can no longer push it aside.

Now we are in Bangkok and will be working with New Beginnings for the next few days. New Beginnings provides a home, health care, and education for women who have been prostitutes. They also teach English during the day to women who work in the red light districts as a form of outreach. We sat down and talked to Bonita, the founder of the organization, and Lena, a Thai staff who helps run the organization and to make sure that the culture is preserved in the work that they do. Today was intense as we listened to Bonita pour out information about the sex trade, specifically in South East Asia and the districts that we will be working in. We learned so much today about the different levels of the trade, and many other layers that we hadn't heard of before. As women, we will be able to go to the pool (snooker) and beer bars and talk to the ladies, however, the guys will be doing work projects in order to protect themselves- it doesn't matter how pure your intentions are, being submersed in this environment is not a wise idea for men. This is not to say that it won't be difficult emotionally for us women as well- we have been warned of the need to care for ourselves emotionally. Our eyes were opened today and our hearts are heavy as we chew on this information that we have been given.

Chiang Saen

Spent the last week (mon-fri) at the Chiang Saen VCDF home which has a little over 60 kids. There we did work projects such as hang mosquito nets and paint the dining area (as a team we painted a mural on the front of the stage overlooking the floor that the kids gather on for meals). It was a more relaxed time during the day than at the Chiang Mai home so we had more energy to play with the kids when they got home from school and during their free time after dinner. Compared to the CM home, there were more staff here and it felt like a more loving environment in the sense that there were women staff who would comfort and care for the kids.

The last night was the best- we had a campfire and cooked an "American meal" (hot dogs, beans, french fries, pound cake & strawberries) and later gathered in a circle for a dance some of the little girls had practiced for us and to listen to Roberto play songs for us. The song playing turned into a baby powder game similar to hot potato and we all had a blast putting baby powder on each others' faces. Eventually all this running around turned into a dance party and everyone was jumping around, twirling and laughing. Anyone that had been sitting on the sides was easily pulled into the fun and it was definitely one of the highlights of my trip so far. We were touched by the children's desire to give and share what they had; our wrists were covered in bracelets that they had made out of yarn and beads. Leaving was the hardest here, because it finally hit me how going to these orphanages were so much more about me than these kids. Yes, we were able to love on them and hopefully show them that there are people who care, but we were there for 4 days. It's almost like a tease- we played with these kid, danced with them, laughed and played endless hand clapping games- we gained their trust and then left. I want to come back again, not in a few years, but within the year if it works out, but I do recognize that a yearly or couple times a year visit is not enough. What to do, what to do...the constant question in the back of our minds.

Being back in Chiang Mai, our home base, has been good- it provides some source of consistency. At the same time, I would much rather be at the orphanage with those kids than in this city. We spent our last day at the CM Drop-in center yesterday and it was unfortunately a pretty empty day but the atmosphere was nice, you could sense the winding down of the trip and it was a perfect reflecting time.

Yesterday was our last day as the first SOLD team, we have our debriefing and party with the staff and tomorrow we will be saying goodbye to most of our team as they head back to scatter across the states. 5 of us will be continuing on to Bangkok.

More soon