And Were Out...

Well after almost a month in South East Asia the rest of the Blind Project crew (Chad & Anthony) are heading back to the states. We had an unbelievable last week in Cambodia. Can't say much at the moment because we are about to miss our flight, but keep checking the blog for more post trip blog postings and info with where we feel the blind project is heading in the future. Thanks everyone for your love and support!

-The Team

Departure

Unfortunately I had to leave a bit early and miss out on the final leg of the trip while Anthony and Chad will be in Southeast Asia until October 31st.

So much has happenned within the last three weeks and its difficult to take it all in. But with a 20+ hr flight schedule I've found some time to decompress some thoughts.

Before coming to America, my family escaped Vietnam after the war. It scares me when I think of what I'd be doing in Vietnam if my dad didn't round up the kids and jump on that boat. Would I be the kid asking for change on the street? A street vendor trying to make an honest living? Or even a cab driver trying to persuade tourists into brothels? I don't know. But what I do know is that I identified with the people here. Thoughts always rushed in my mind "that person could've been me" or worse yet, "that girl could've been one of my sisters".

I found a stronger love and a deeper respect for my dad. Although, I never made it to Vietnam on this trip... I know the issue of child trafficking & prostitution is extremely prevalent there (and all over the world for that matter). What can I do to stop it? I had a great conversation with a businessman en route to the states yesterday and he told me that just the simple act of raising peoples consiences about the issue was a powerful thing.

Some people have already asked me what if the trip, film, the entire mission is unsuccessful?

But to me, the fact that it has opened my own eyes, proves victory enough.

So I will continue to do what I can.

We have a possible interview lined up with an international social figure on human trafficking next week in New York.

Let the games begin.

Oh yeah... I already miss the kids at the orphanage.

Moving On...

I can't give details but all i can say is some major connections recently came through and we found ourselves as of yesterday traveling a neighboring country to pursue some interviews with a few very influential people including a woman who was nominated for a nobel peace prize for her humanitarian relief efforts toward human trafficking. We decided to spend an additional week here and will be interviewing girls who were victims of trafficking along with mothers who's children were kidnapped and trafficked into the sex slave industry. We had a lot on our plate, but we are working with some very powerful people and are excited already with some of the success of these interviews. We will continue to keep you guys posted of any updates. We apologize again for some of the anonymity of our posts, but we have been asked numerous people whom we have meet with that we maintain a high level of discreetness because of the subject matter. Also we are all saddened that we will be loosing Liem on this last leg of the trip. He will be leaving us tomorrow and heading back to NYC for previous engagements. Were gonna miss you man!

Change of plans.

So things have been going well for the past two days. We have had three great interviews with people who provide after care for girls rescued out of prostitution
and one interview with an orphanage that provides for children from age 0-5 that are infected with Aids/HIV and left with out no care from parents or family.
Also a quick day trip to a mountain village near the boarder of Burma where we meet with a local in the community and interviewed him on the challenges the village faces and how the issues with burma, drugs and trafficking play a part in the village and his life.
The plans have shifted for us a bit after a long lost contact popped up in an email and has pointed us to a few valuable connections that we will be leaving Thailand for to a near by country to follow up on and interview and research in different cities to find more leads on the root of the issues and possibly help with finding better solutions and after care programs that may already be in working.
We will post new photos and more info on this change of plans when we feel more able to express details and share what we have learned without putting ourselves and others working with us in to situations that could cause problems for future work and the trust contacts

Tonight we are in at a hotel in Bangkok and wait to fly out in the morning on a early flight. Some important interviews are still left here in Bangkok and we hope to return to Bangkok again to complete those before our return to the USA.

This week is going to be our busiest week and probably most exciting and rewarding. We are amped up not sure if we want to come back home so soon. :)

Free Burma Rangers - Burma & Trafficking

The greatest thing about our trip has been the overwhelming number of contacts we've been given. On our trip up to Chaing Mai we were referred to a videographer who is a part of an organization that is helping the freedom states of Burma. Since Burma is a place of high civil unrest and poverty it has also become a huge source of trafficking that has staggering effects on the surrounding nations such as Thailand.

We were given this short film from FBR and found it interesting with how it relates to the larger picture of human trafficking here in South East Asia.

For more information about Free Burma Rangers Check out their site www.freeburmarangers.org

Hope is born.

A child who has grown up under a constant loss of hope with no time to dream, run wild, play or have an education - he/she loses hope and their soft and loving heart can turn bitter so quickly.

We have seen the eyes of the hurting children here in the city streets where they are trapped with no room to grown and no hope for education or a better life. Many have lived and died in the streets from Bangkok to Chiang Rai completely undetected. Others are raised in brothel neighborhoods, where all they know about life is that someone will pay them money for sex. These kids allow their bodies to be used; raped for money, while others are entrapped in slave labor and forced to work with little or no profit. With their small amounts they make, they try desperately to pay off their pimps, brothel owners, or slave masters in hopes to be set free. But if freedom is possible at all... then what? With no education, where can these children go and what can they do? This is the beautiful side of evil, an economic "catch 22" that offers no way out for a trafficked victim from the sex trade - even if they make it out on their own.

The average income in Thailand is around 150.00 USD a year. Poverty is a large problem and a major cause for human trafficking as well as so many other factors unmentioned. We have found a new hope: one of restoration, where children have the opportunity to play, laugh, dream, and learn. We have been humbled to visit, talk and speak with them about this new life that most of them dream to see here at the orphanage. Most importantly, we have encountered the face of hope.

Back to the orphanage

Just to update everyone, we spent a couple days in the mountain-region of Chaing Mai. We met with some extraordinary contacts and worked in some interviews there... including with an organization called 'Free Burma Rangers'. They deal with the travesties that are happenning in Burma and have created a few short films. They are doing a marvelous effort and putting their lives on the line for the Burmese people - so feel free to look them up if you feel inclined to.

Anyways, so we're back in Chiang Rai and back to spending time with some of the children. One shy kid in particular really captured our hearts (pictured above). We were able to interview him along with a translator to capture his story. We know that he is from Burma and used to live in a second-story hut built on stilts. When he was very young he crawled near the edge and fell out of the hut and broke his back. His parents could not afford medical attention so his back grew into an extreme deformity (protruding from his spine and chest). He was rescued from a sweatshop recently working 12 hrs a day doing needle point & sewing. Today he's happy and enjoying life as a kid. And of course, he still does needle point sewing... but just for fun. Hopefully, the orphanage will raise enough funds to get him to a medical surgeon to fix his back.

Overall, the children here have blown us away with their work ethic and love. The older children take care of the younger ones (cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.). Attached is just a clip I took of them washing dishes "assembly line style" with my little digi-cam.

We are continuing to meet with people on a daily basis, we'll keep you posted.

Thanks for your support everyone.

Chaing Mai & Travel Images

Images from our recent trip over to Chaing Mai through the beautiful hills traveling from Chaing Rai. Also some pictures bellow are from the Chaing Rai orphanage as well. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we travel to outside villages in the next few days and meet with more contacts to help fight human trafficking and gain more knowledge about South East Asia.

Breakthrough connection

So we met with a very reputable group here in Chiang Mai (I cannot give you the persons' names or their affiliation due to security issues). We spoke for a few hours and shared thoughts and visions. They told us to be very cautious about putting any of the victims names, locations, etc. in our blogs for the victims' personal safety.

They said something that struck a chord with me. They said of course we want to bring back tragic stories of children who have been victims of human trafficking, but at what cost? These victims have been in bondage and exploited all of their lives. For many of the vicims their story/testimony is the only piece of self-dignity they have left. So who are we to turn around and exploit them for their story?

In any case, it was an extremely encouraging meeting and we felt the energy charging on both ends of the room. From now on, we will use even more caution and discretion describing some of the places we've been to & some of the victims we encounter.

It really is a doube edged sword. You need heart-wrenching stories to stir the emotions of people... and the more details and specifics we give, the more powerful the impact. But at the same time it really jeopardizes the victims' safety - and that's something we will not do.

Driving

Ok so today we are driving... leaving chaing rai
and heading out to chaing mai! 2 1/2 hours from
the orphanage we are with now. To our surprise
Chaing Mai is a large supplier of Human traffiking
victims and also has a healthy amount of brothels.
This city also holds about 2 million people!
We rented a pick up truck with an extended cab for only
25 dollars a day and that is expensive for over here but its
new and will get the job done without any trouble. The roads
are paved for the most part minus random construction and road detours
as well as flooded portions of road and huge potholes.
We are excited to meet with the connections that we have
gained acess to in Chaing Mai and think that this will be a major
plus in our trip and bring in a wealth of knowledge.

Thank you for checking in and we will post new pictures soon.

:) TBP TEAM

Little Undercover...

We all went out a few nights ago in Bangkok and checked out the local prostitution scene to get a glimpse of the bigger problem. Here is a short conversation Chad had with a American sex tourist while undercover coupled with time lapse footage of workers setting up for the nightime crowd in Pat Pong. We were shocked! Despite the worst rain we had ever experienced workers still set up shop over a flooded street. Sex sells...

Chaing Rai

Wow. A lot has happenned since the last post.

We've been able to connect and meet with people in Bangkok and now we are in Chang Rai at the childrens orphanage and you may see that our blog and information has been changing on our web page to protect the people and children. Some information we need to be more carefull about sharing and posting and want to be as safe as possible, so we may not use names and exact locations at this time. Since we are limited to email access, we are actually at an net cafe closer to town right now.

The children here have been awesome. It's real encouraging to see faces of hope and happiness despite the difficult past they have been through. The head director at the orphanage, is teaching the orphans trade skills so they can eventually live a self-sustaining life and produce careers that will carry them into the future and make a living for them and their families.

Posted is a snapshot I took of one of the kids, known as "the wicked soccer player, sharp english student, guitarist-extraordinare" kid.

Later on, I the director of the orphanage is going to take us into the more remote villages.

Will touch base a little more later.

Thanks all.

Chaing Rai :: Image Post #1 ::

Images from Bangkok

Please click on the link below:

http://www.theblindproject.com/bangkok/

Bangkok Images