Where there is light...

As we entered the alley back in September (2009), we were met by a deafening noise. It was a holiday, and, as per usual on such occasions, music was blaring from unseen speakers. No longer able to communicate with my friend/guide, I became lost in thought. The street before us was typical of countless others we’d passed here in the red light district.

Trash had collected along the stonewalls of the buildings in these narrow lanes offering delightful fodder for the large number of goats, dogs, cats, and rats that called the district home. Their neighbors, countless men, women, and children, socialized with each other from unsteady cots placed parallel to each home’s curtain-on-a-rod/front door.

Unlike other areas of this massive city, no one would meet my gaze. In this dark place, it was as though the sun had set in my mind and twilight had taken over. I could not stop the next thought: the cries of a young girl being sexually assaulted in any of these brothels would go unheard. This supposed day of celebration has only increased the vulnerability of the country’s estimated 1.2 million minors held in sexual servitude.

We drank in the toxic atmosphere for less than ten minutes before walking freely away, to explore the rest of this city. If only everyone could be so lucky.

As I entered my newest office, * where I have joined the fight to combat this seemingly impenetrable world of commercial sexual exploitation (i.e. forced prostitution) on a daily basis, I finally glimpse the light in all this horror…in my compassionate and brilliant co-workers.

In their strength and determination, I see a day when little girls will no longer scream, unheard, under the weight of a stranger. It will be a glorious day.

*Look for further explanation on WHY I am back in South Asia (but different city) in the upcoming post “Annnnd….I’m back!”
["Red Light Street": photo above courtesy of the org]

Haiti

A dear friend recently had an article published in The Atlantic regarding the recent disaster in Haiti, and those left vulnerable to being trafficked into the sex trade…please read on:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/201001u/haiti-trafficking

Sri NO Ka (Part 2): My soapbox moment...

Sri Lanka has just recently reported an end to its 25-year civil war between the ethnic majority and minority groups in the North. While peace should be celebrated, it will be hard to maintain if the over 280,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are left in their impoverished and unsettled state. According to our friends on the island, this population has had little support since the ceasefire in May.

What concerns me when the IDPs are not seen as a priority is that people will grow restless; and violence will come more easily to the neglected and frustrated...those in charge would be wise to refocus their energy on ensuring their citizens are cared for and reintegrated into more stable communities, if they truly want to bring peace to their nation.

Growing up in a community where violence was something we watched on T.V., it is impossible for me to imagine the struggles ahead for this tiny nation where generations have grown up knowing only ethnic violence. My thoughts and prayers remain with them (for more on the conflict and the plight of the IDPs, please check out the report at: http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004BE3B1/(httpInfoFiles)/9D0639639598A4CEC12575A90034A2DE/$file/SriLanka_Overview_May09.pdf).

That being said...here are more images from our visit...



Yes, sometimes it just smells bad...no worries, the nationals do this too, so no one would have been offended :)





These two photos were taken near a wat, or Buddhist temple. The "trek" up to this spot took us all of five minutes from our hotel. Ha!



The look J. captured on my face WAS staged, but pretty much sums up how we were all feeling on our adventure to "Jungle Island," which was neither very jungle-y nor an island (well, other than being a part of Sri Lanka). Our rickety little boat; non-regulation (and very broken) life-jackets (that we had to ask to wear); and non-English-speaking guides were not very reassuring as we braved the rough, open seas...we have photos of us kissing the ground once we made it safely to our destination. I'm thinking never again, unless there are waivers and radios on board...:)

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(It's a long story...)



Sri Lanka was heavily impacted by the Tsunami back in Dec '04.



Is this auto-rickshaw turned ice cream truck NOT the cutest thing ever?

A hard day's night...

Well, a funny story about my Sunday evening two weekends ago, at least...

Sunday was spent catching up a) on sleep, and b) on work. Yes, I was working. Preparing for our "Freedom Training" that was starting on Monday. We are constantly updating the curriculum (hopefully improving it) and I hadn't yet finished all the updates we'd planned. After working for awhile, I took a short break to attend house church (a small group of us meet for church at my friends' apt), which was actually a mini birthday party for a friend's daughter, Sneha. She turned 7 (but her size is more like that of a 5-year-old).

I walked in to her wearing the most elaborate princess gown full of golden roses and singing "happy birthday to ME" at the top of her lungs....she was the most strung-out-on- sugar child I have ever seen. And this was PRE-sugar. She's a hoot. Seriously. We had all brought her "princess" gifts, which she gushed appropriately over...until she opened her gift from our hosts: a birthday princess Barbie. Holy toledo! I thought for a second that she was literally bouncing off walls...it was a sight to behold. The dogs in MY neighborhood (five minutes walking distance away) were barking in response...okay, not really. We ate cake and then dug a wee bit into 1 Peter 2.

An hour later, it was back to the office....at 1 AM, as I was pressing print on the first of several documents that I needed to print, the POWER went out in the entire building. Printing was out. Luckily, we have small back up batteries so I was at least able to keep working on the computer. But these batteries don't last forever, and as the back-up- generated lights began to flicker out, I decided I should save my work as is and shut down before I lose it all. It was now 2:30 am and I had to be back at the office no later than 7 am....with tons to do still, I figured I would simply go home, shower, get ready for the day and ride my bicycle straight back to the office to complete my work.

We usually have mandatory hour and a half power outages, but we hadn't had any for awhile now. For some reason, even though these things are totally unpredictable, I simply thought it would turn back on after a short while. So, I shut down, packed up, locked up our office (padlocks and all) and headed downstairs to retrieve my cycle...our building has a night watchman and a gate. I''ve worked late many nights and the gate is never locked...shut, but not locked. Tonight, however, it was. Padlocked. And our "guard" was sleeping soundly on the steps in front of our office building.

I felt guilty waking him up, but I tried to make the normal "okay, I'm getting ready to leave now" noises...nothing (apparently, my fears that the sad little bell on my bicycle is useless are true; I had better replace it soon before I get run over). Yes, my attempts were pathetic, but honestly, if the pulling-the-gate-down-over-the-office-door-and-padlocking-it racket didn't wake him, nothing would! That process sounds like the tin man pre-oiling tripping over himself in a greek amphitheater. It's just painful! Well, to me, at least. Doesn't seem to phase our guard one bit.

After some time, I gave up: if the dogs barking up a storm and the unregulated car horns (that can also be heard in Sri Lanka) weren't causing him to stir, I didn't stand a chance. Defeated, I headed back up into the office...I feel safe here in general, but I'm not stupid; and walking back at this hour to my house sans bike, while possible, is not a wise thing to do...I undid the fallen tinman, worked a bit longer, and then arranged three desk chairs as a makeshift bed (you all have been there, done that, right?) for a brief nap....

I woke up (with the help of my wonderful boyfriend and fellow co-worker's calls/texts) an hour and a half later to find the electricity still had not returned and I again attempted to leave the grounds. Luckily, this time was much more successful...I had just enough time to clean up and then ride back to the office with the hope of printing something before our car left at 7. The power, however, did not return until midday, apparently...sigh. Oh well. I tried. Oh, and I got home that day (Monday) from our day in the field by 9:30 pm....after a LONG, de-licing shower and a quick call from Ben, I was finally able to get some sleep in a bed.

Protecting the Master...

A previous post describes the Friday trivia/team building game we play in our office, which we fondly refer to as "The Master's Game." The team that wins each week earns the honor of caring for the monkey-carved-out-of-coconut that we know only as "The Master" (of Ceremonies, essentially). After a recent win (and prior to our more recent losing-streak, I am sad to report), a few of us decided it had been awhile since the master had been properly "dressed" for the Friday fun.

To explain the photos below: Our team is called "Toast" (the nickname for one of our teammates), which is displayed as a classy tattoo on the master's backside in one image. His tuxedo offers him some cover from the coming monsoons, and his mask is simply to protect him from the onslaught of swine flu-even the guards outside of our buildings have been wearing masks of late.

Yes, we DO work...most of the time. :)

Sri NO Ka (Part 1)

Below are some images (pre-camera dying) from a recent, brief excursion with friends to the tropical island-nation of Sri Lanka. It is a beautiful land, of which I only saw a very small piece. We stayed near the old Dutch colonial town of Fort Galle in the south, which is still enclosed within the Fort's ramparts. Most of the images below are from our day around the Fort, itself. "Sri NO ka" became our catch phrase after running into several snags, as any good adventure would. We say it fondly now, of course...

Medical Camp 2009

Some more images from the day: over 200 families served in one village. The team of national and non-nationals worked tirelessly all day, in extremely hot, unventilated "cubbies." Several families from the operation I was a part of back in December live in this village, which is an hour from the nearest hospital/clinic- one reason it was selected for the camp. The other main reason, however, is our desire to improve community relations for our clients as they reintegrate into free society.