TOGETHER,
WE ARE STRONGER
THAN SLAVERY.
February 24, 2013
Buying sex with a 12-year-old girl in Cambodia takes less time and effort than paying for a telephone bill. For a modest amount of USD, a shady motorbike will take you on a 20 minute ride up the haphazard highway north of Phnom Penh to the dark and grim village of Svay...
February 24, 2013
An imaginary black cloud hovered over my head as I gathered the sights and sounds of suffering and despairof the past few days. However, where there is bad, there must be good. Amidst all this anguish and misfortune, there are angels who shine a rays of hope for all of...
February 8, 2013
Cambodia is deceiving. Hidden in the shadows of its vibrant city streets, modern architecture, eclectic culture, and majestic mosques is the discrimination and enslavement of Vietnamese people. Worse, the diseased tradition of trafficking Vietnamese women and children....
January 31, 2013
After a couple days in Can Tho connecting with the local church community, we head back to Saigon for a BBQ with the girls. It would be the last time we would see them. I carried mixed emotions on the bus ride back to Saigon. On one side I was super excited to see the...
January 29, 2013
With my spirit already low-lying from the events of the morning, our group drags our heavy souls to the Orphanage of Can Tho, which is also a shelter for victims of "Agent Orange" or dioxin. Agent Orange is one of the herbicides and defoliants that the US Military used...
January 29, 2013
Brace yourselves for my horrific encounter with human rights violations on day 2 of my Can Tho visit. On the morning of January 14, Father Martino briefed our group that we were to visit a shelter for the mentally ill in the morning and an orphanage in the afternoon an...
January 25, 2013
We parted with the girls (but not for the last time!) to venture south of Saigon to Can Tho. Can Tho is the fifth largest city in Vietnam, and the largest city in the Mekong Delta. It is noted for its floating market, rice-paper-making-village, and picturesque rural ca...
January 24, 2013
Well, life isn't always so. But today, the girls experienced a life so beautiful and grand. Generously sponsored by one of OBV's partners, we took the girls to a private beach resort from January 11-12. Many of them have never seen an ocean before! Others have never be...
January 14, 2013
The purpose of this mission trip was to SEE, HEAR, LEARN about our surroundings, from rural villages to urban hotspots, in order for us to understand the situation in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam and Cambodia. Not only did we dig deeper into the human sex traff...
January 9, 2013
I found myself at church yesterday. The priest said, "He does not need your money, He needs your love". I must admit I am not a religious person, and so the rest of mass was well consumed with jumbled thoughts pacing in my mind. This quote, however, brought me back to...