You can help!

Help me to spread the word of human trafficking and the great efforts taking place through DEPDC's wonderful programs!
Maybe you could even consider volunteering with them!

Ways you can help

Shop through handmade scarves and purses made by the survivors!

More about the children at DEPDC

I am finally back in Knoxville, and now I have time to update the events during my trip of a lifetime. My first post just outlined some basics of the first two weeks of the trip, but I want to talk more about the children at DEPDC.

**For anyone reading this who is considering going on an ISV trip, I would actually recommend bringing your laptop because most of the time we had access to Wi-Fi and I felt our things were kept safe and secure. I recommend contacting your Project Leader, because access to Wi-Fi and other conditions may be different depending on your country and project site. It would have been nice to be able to upload photos and keep in touch with friends.

The children at the site were a joy to work with and full of energy. The Half Day School has children from K-6^th grade, but there are older students who work there to help out in the classrooms, with cooking, etc. Classes consist of children of various ages because students join the program at different times, and some children are stateless and do not have a birth certificate so there is no way to know their age. Many of the children come from Burma and ride a crammed bus each morning and afternoon to DEPDC.

Though the students are mostly smiles and full of energy, there are various signs that reveal tough home lives or difficult pasts. One student came up to another volunteer and pointed to a scar much too large for a child of such a young age. Most of the students wore the same 1-3 sets of clothing. One of the smallest boy’s shoes broke during soccer, and the next day he came back wearing pink crocs that were much too small for his feet. Also, two of the students at the center cannot speak. This is likely due to a very traumatic past event they encountered. It is difficult to see because they are often bullied, or they lash out with violence such as hitting and yelling. Other students often display acts of violence as well. Luckily there are teachers at DEPDC who can provide a good role model for the students. Also, various long-term volunteers and short-term ISV volunteers can provide other positive role models.

It is impossible to know exactly what each child has been through, as each child’s past is confidential. We were very fortunate on our trip to hear from the founder of DEPDC. His story is very compelling and he expanded our knowledge of the human trafficking industry. As a small child, a Peace Corp volunteer took him in and taught him English, allowing him to go on to create several initiatives to help children at risk or rescued from human trafficking. Unfortunately, there is only so much room at DEPDC and other facilities to take in children, so only the worst cases are admitted to his programs.  The founder of DEPDC talked to us a lot about why human trafficking continues, which he attributes to what he refers to as the “Blood Sucker Cycle.” I encourage you to look at the details of this cycle and his target group at the DEPDC website. One of the most shocking details he provided to us was that clinic doctors benefit from the sex industry because they perform procedures on the young girls to essentially, sow them back up to be sold as virgins again. Human trafficking can come in many forms, not just sex trafficking, and can be found in many countries. People most at risk for trafficking in Thailand are the stateless youth because they cannot enroll in free government schools. Providing education and vocational skills to these children helps prevent them from being sold or coerced into human trafficking.

More info on human trafficking

The Volunteer Project

Sadly, tomorrow is my last day at our volunteer project. So far everything has been amazing! There are only eight of us on the project, but it is nice having a small group because we have all gotten to know each other better. Samantha Sanderson, Mecca, Behn, and Gillian are from Canada, while Andrew, Paige, Lauren, and I represent the Americans. Our project leader is Kaptan, who is from Thailand and luckily speaks Thai and some Burmese. Kaptan is a character and loves photography, so he provides optimal entertainment and takes heeps of pictures. We are the only westerners that I have seen in Mae Sai, the town we're in. It is a very unique experience getting to be a part of the local culture. We have gotten to where we recognize many of the childrens' faces on the street, and the local store owners are starting to expect us to come by each day to buy our daily ice cream. Working at DPDEC has been so much fun teaching the kids English and playing soccer with them each day. I even scored a few goals! Today we played our final game with the kids in the pouring rain.

Teaching is fun but very difficult because the children know almost no English and their teachers do not know enough English to understand us, so every activity we do has to be able to be explained with just hand gestures. I am going to miss hanging out with the children each day, but I will also miss the precious puppy who lives at DPDEC.

 One thing I won't miss as much is all the hard work we do when we are not teaching the children. We are building a wall around the school, and it is hard work! We carry buckets of concrete and have to do heavy lifting. I'm pretty sure my arms have gotten a lot stronger. Yesterday was the first day that my arms weren't killing me. Luckily Thai messages are very cheap! I have already gotten 3!

 I think I might have already gained ten pounds being here because I loveeeeeee Thai food, and I love fruit which is served with every meal except breakfast. I have tried so many new fruits like guava, leeche, rambutam, long kong, and long gon. One of the highlights of being here is all the new foods I get to try. Kaptan says I must have been Thai in another life because I love all the food so much.

 On our days off we have gone on great sight seeing adventures, like visiting the museum of the Golden Triangle. We learned about the history of the wars fueled by the opium industry. I didn't realized how much opium influenced so many countries around the world. We have also been to local markets, and the local teenagers took us around to see local Buddhist temples. This past Sunday we went to a lake a discovered a cave, that was awesome to explore. One of the cool things about some of the local temples is that some of them are actually in caves.